Jerry Fuhrman notes that there may be a permitting problem with the Tea Party down in Abingdon, Virginia. Here’s a note from the event’s organizer, Ted Dingler, on the group’s Facebook page:

The town of Abingdon has denied us the use of the muster site as well as all town owned property. We are currently working on a substitute site as well as several other options. Rest assured, there will be a tea party somewhere in the Abingdon, VA area.

This strikes me as a rather novel decision regarding “town owned” property…which, by any other name, is public property. Paid for, and thus owned by, taxpayers.

Contact Information for the Abingdon Town Council

If you’d like to share your thoughts and concerns with the town council about their novel understanding of public property and First Amendment rights, you can contact them here.

Remember: polite, but firm.

(cross-posted at Tertium Quids)