Email from Tricia Willoughby, the 14-year-old girl who spoke at Saturday's Tea Party rally.

As I've shown in other posts — here, here, and here — there were anti-Tea Party protesters who were shouting and noisemaking throughout her speech. She writes:

First off, I’d like to thank Ms. Althouse for giving me the opportunity to write about my experience at the tea party. Also, before another word is spoken, I’d like to clarify that I was most certainly NOT forced to speak at the tea party by my parents or anyone else. My parents would never force me to do that. I did it completely out of my own free will and wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else, doing anything else that day.

Here are my (“14 year old, Tricia Willoughby”) views and opinions of what occurred on that extraordinary day…



Little did I know that throughout my entire speech, an immature, grown man, was shouting profanities at me, nor that I was getting booed and yelled at by many other opposers. The leftists, you see, were just getting warmed up, and had not yet made their big push to try to completely drown out the speakers.

The next couple speakers spoke, and it wasn’t until they spoke, that I began to actually hear the union protesters and their annoying shouting. I also saw a heckler come to the front of the crowd and yell throughout the majority of the speeches.

However, despite all of those incidents that I saw that day, the rest of that day was an INCREDIBLE experience. From meeting THE Sarah Palin, to speaking to my fellow Tea Party patriots, to showing the Unionistas what Democracy really looks like, last Saturday was a day that I will hold in my memory forever.

It wasn’t until the next day (Sunday, the 19th) that I watched the video of some particularly hate- filled people. (You know who I’m talking about) When I first watched the video of that particularly distasteful man, my first reaction was actually to laugh! I couldn’t believe it! This grown man was soo immature and so small to be calling me those things. I was thinking “That is what you want to say to me? Really? You’re not even listening to what I’m saying, or criticizing my actual logic. You are simply just calling me names because I am on the opposite side.”

I can truly say that I am not offended in the least by that man’s comments. He obviously was not saying what he said to my speech (since he wasn’t listening at all to it), nor was he saying it to me. He was saying it to a member of the opposing side and couldn’t even string together an intelligent piece of criticism.

I wish I could say this man surprised me, but I cannot. I do not reject or hold prejudice toward their rude and mean protesting, in fact I welcome it. I am actually thankful towards this man and his distasteful comments. He, along with the other protesters, just makes us (the Tea Partiers/Conservatives) look even better.

During the weeks of union protests, did you see any conservatives, tea partiers, or Republicans down at our capitol heckling and trying to drown out the other side? I was actually there, at our Wisconsin Capitol throughout that whole first week of protest. I was there taking a week long class on government with a wonderful organization called TeenPact (check it out at www.teenpact.com), and the unionistas were so loud, and so bothersome with their drums, symbols, bagpipes, and constant chanting, that by the end of the class we were extremely annoyed. However, not once, NOT ONCE, did I see any conservative person harassing, or heckling, or yelling violently at any protester. In fact, I only saw the opposite being done, and the conservatives in the capitol got the same special treatment that was given to me by that particular man.

Be proud, my fellow conservatives, tea partiers, and Republicans. We believe in persuasion, not intimidation!

Even in the face of adversity we must stay strong no matter how hard our urge is to yell and harass back. We must remain the kinder and gentler party, who represents the morals and principals that this great nation was founded on.

However, just because we let our gentleness be evident to all, that does not mean that we are weak. Because when it comes to protecting and defending our morals, values, freedoms and rights, we are strong. Let us keep our position as the kind giant and keep on fighting for America.

Thank you for reading this and God bless!

Keep loving and defending this land of the free and home of the brave,
~A Fellow Patriot-Tricia Willoughby