From Staff Reports

WAYNESVILLE — The Asheville Tea Party on Oct. 12 held a Pisgah Inn Rally for Liberty to celebrate what it termed a “push back against this tyranny” in the reopening — after a forced closure by Blue Ridge Park Police — of the privately run business that leases its property from the federal government along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

About 50 people attended the affair at a parking area along the Parkway near the inn, which, as USA Today noted in a story earlier that week is “at a spot 5,000 feet above sea level and 20 miles from the nearest town.”

The rally attendees included ATP members, as well as those from other local tea party groups, as well as sympathizers — veterans, students, business-owners, senior citizens, churches and Oath Keepers-We the People.

As planned, a number of those at the rally wanted to show their support so they went immediately afterward to lunch at the inn, which involved about an hour’s wait because of the glut of diners after news of its reopening. 

The diners from the rally said they wanted to show both their moral and monetary support for the business that had been forced to close days earlier by the Blue Ridge Park Police, citing the partial federal government shutdown. “That’s one of the reasons why we’re going — to support private enterprise,” Bilello noted before the rally. 

The inn was allowed to reopen Oct. 9, only after the business’ owner, Bruce O’Connell filed a lawsuit. Bilello noted in an announcement before the rally that she believes the “government has backed down! Across America, citizens are tossing aside the barricades to our monuments and saying ‘enough is enough.’”

Further, she stated in the pre-rally statement, “Let’s make Pisgah Inn the inspiration for all Americans across our nation to push back against this tyranny. We can and we are doing this. Come to get that message out!

She added, “Please come and join us to send the message that we will not tolerate this selective, vindictive thuggery of this government to target honest, hard-working Americans who still believe in the principles that made our nation great. Do not allow this tyranny to go unanswered. 

“This is bigger than the Pisgah Inn shutdown. Shutting down veteran memorials and cemeteries is an outrage. Removing homeowners from their residences and targeting free enterprise is a violation of every person’s right to life, liberty and property. What’s next?”

Bilello also advised the participants to travel to the rally in a caravan and “be polite and respectful always. Stay rougher. Remember: ‘I’m here to exercise my First Amendment rights.’ Many of the rangers are very sympathetic. They are doing what they were ordered to do. Also, don’t be afraid to have a conversation with them about Oathkeepers. The park rangers are very nice. We have a very positive exchange with them” at a previous rally against the inn’s closure.

Among the Oct. 12 speakers at the rally were ATP Chairwoman Jane Bilello, ….. and Linda Bennett of Maggie Valley. 

Brad Jones, a professional Asheville singer who has recorded in Nashville with a number of country artists, provided the musical fare, as he sang several songs, including — twice (for those who missed it the first time) — Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” (Jones also worked with a number of Music Hall of Fame artists, has sung at the Governor’s Western Residence (in Asheville) and political rallies.

A contingent of the rally attendees stationed themselves along the Parkway so that they could wave signs and flags at drivers-by, many of whom honked and waved.

The speakers and singers performed from a flat-bed-truck, with the sound system powered by a portable generator.

“I’m glad that we still have the right to peacefully assemble, but I fear our days are numbered,” Bennett told the Daily Planet, as she stood near the edge of the Parkway, brandishing a sign and gripping a pole with a flag.