ALAMOGORDO - A Tea Party protest Saturday that many people feared would morph into a Wild West shootout turned out to be a problem-free event.
About 350 people from throughout New Mexico, mostly Republican supporters and a handful of self-proclaimed Democrats, crowded the intersection of 10th Street and White Sands Boulevard - the busiest intersection in Alamogordo - to protest against the Obama administration and its policies.
There were plenty of handguns and rifles on display, but no violence and no reports of arrests.
The event was staged by the Otero Tea Party Patriots and the newly formed Second Amendment Task Force. Though the main focus of Tea Party supporters was to protest the administration, the Alamogordo 2ATF conducted a simultaneous open-carry event.
"They were a bit loud, but they were polite," said Don Omey, coordinator of the Otero Tea Party Patriots, of Alamogordo 2ATF members. "They didn't get on anyone's case. I was proud of the way they conducted themselves - and I was glad to have the turnout. That's what we need to turn some minds around."
Protesters from all parts of the state either carried holstered guns or rifles slung over their shoulder at the event.
"I don't like what the Democrats are doing to our country," said Jim Kizer of Alamogordo, who carried a .444 Marlin and a holstered .41 Smith & Wesson Magnum. "I'm a Korean vet and I grew up in Alaska during World War II. I've fought Communists all my life, and now our government is being taken over by them. That's why I'm here."
Kizer said his weapons were not loaded.
"I'm not trying to start a war," he said. "I just want to make a point."
Denise Lang was positioned in front of Founders Park, located diagonally from the Alamogordo Airborne Memorial. Lang, a Democrat, said the gun display was not necessary.
"I see it as being juvenile and adolescent," she said. "I'm very much a pro-gun rights person. I come from a military family. My late husband was a gunsmith, but I think gun use is okay in an appropriate time and place. Wearing guns to a protest, to me, is extremely juvenile."
Lang said she also wanted to support the health-care reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Christmas Eve.
"When I worked at the cancer treatment center in Alamogordo, I saw private health care turn down treatment for people who had pre-existing conditions," she said. "I think the health-care industry is providing us with bad health care."
Alamogordo Department of Public Safety and New Mexico State Police saturated the protest area with officers.
Police vehicles passed through the intersection at no less than five-minute intervals during the two-hour event.
Orie Adcock and his wife, Juli, both of Roswell, came with identical scoped AR-15s slung over their shoulder.
"I heard about it through the grapevine and decided to come over to see what it's all about," Orie Adcock said. "We also wanted to express our First Amendment rights, as well as our Second Amendment rights."
Las Crucen Jerry Claunch said he made the one-hour trip to Alamogordo with about 10 other Do a Ana County tea partiers to show support for Otero County's contingency, as well as to express his right to bear arms in public.
"I'm here to help keep our country from being socialized by 'Zero-bama,'" he said. "He's running us into the ground; he's ruining our economy. I see what's going on. My flag is tattered and I don't like it."
Tony Betterton of Alamogordo had a completely different take. Obama and the Democrats, he said, inherited a mess left behind by Republicans.
"Fox News has turned their mind to mush," he said, pointing to the protesters. "I understand their anger, but maybe they ought to be taking their anger out on the insurance companies. How come they're not out in front of the lobbyists' offices in Washington? How come they're not out in front of major health-care industries? Those people, they've become lackeys - and they don't even know it.
"You know, I'm a disabled vet," he added. "Not all vets are right-wing nuts."
Michael Johnson is managing editor of the Alamogordo Daily News, a member of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, and can be reached at
mjohnson@alamogordonews.com.
