13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Protesters hold rally at Statehouse

Protesters hold rally at Statehouse

Indianapolis - An eclectic group of nearly 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse to show lawmakers that they are generally "fed up" with government.

Some at Wednesday's rally held signs urging lawmakers to retire or be voted out of office. Others wanted to repeal property taxes or stop what they considered eminent domain abuse. Other signs supported a state immigration law and a revolt against socialism.

Speakers at the "Revolt at the Statehouse" event included taxpayer group leaders and community activists. Organizers said the focus of the rally was the frustration average citizens feel with government at all levels.

Earlier Wednesday, rally organizer Paul Ogden spoke to Eyewitness News.

"We have Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians. This is an issue that cuts across political parties and that's one of the things that we want to emphasize, that this is not a partisan event," said Paul Ogden, rally organizer.


One speaker focused on the Colts, the Pacers and the Indianapolis Capitol Improvement Board.

Group members feel the CIB is a prime example of a quasi-governmental agency which is not directly accountable to citizens, yet wields enormous power and has control of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.

Some CIB members have recently proposed helping the Pacers by paying the $15 million it costs to run Conseco Fieldhouse every year.

Protesters hope state lawmakers were listening closely.

"They should not just listen to the lobbyists. They should listen to the people. We have a number of what I refer to as citizen leaders attending this rally, speaking at this rally. People who maybe started blogs or been active in their community raising issues," Ogden said.