Atlanta Tea Party Protest Draws Thousands

Demonstrators descended on the Georgia's Capitol Wednesday night for what's being billed as one of the largest anti-tax "tea parties" taking place around the country.

By 5 p.m., hundreds of people were already at the Capitol dressed in red, white and blue.

Protesters say TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.

SLIDESHOW: Downtown Atlanta Tea Party SLIDESHOW: Roswell Tea Party LIST: Tax Protest Street Closings

A protest also took place at the Roswell Square Wednesday afternoon as a precursor to Wednesday night's rally. The organizer of the TEA Party in Roswell said it was about the people.

"This is totally grass roots. I got on the Internet, sent a couple e-mails, and just sort of hooked up with other people who were thinking the same thing...wanting to get involved, wanting to speak out, and get our voices heard," said organizer Thomas Bose.

Roswell protester Betty Givings said, "In the first place, I don't believe you can throw taxes at the situation we're in now. I think you have to work it out from the ground up."

Channel 2 Action News Photographer Casey Nichols tea party downtown IM State Capitol police cut through a crowd of hundreds as the Downtown Atlanta tea party got set. State Capitol police cut through a crowd of hundreds as the Downtown Atlanta tea party got set.

Some protesters said they were not anti-tax, they were anti-spending.

TEAM 2 COVERAGE: Tax Day Tea Parties

"I'm not as much against the taxes as I am against how they spend the taxes," said Roswell protester Catherine Watkins. "Because I think everyone in the country wants to pay their fair share."

FOX News conservative pundit Sean Hannity decided to broadcast his show from the Capitol steps on Wednesday night. That helped draw a large crowd of Georgians angry over what they said is too much government spending and the Obama administration's proposed tax increases on wealthier Americans. A number of Georgia Republicans were in attendance.

Channel 2 Action News spoke with Hannity just before Wednesday night's tea party. You can see the entire, raw interview here:

RAW VIDEO: Sean Hannity Talks With Channel 2's Richard Belcher

Traffic in and around the Capitol Wednesday night caused a big headache because of the rally and an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field. CLICK HERE for a list of street closings.

As many as 10,000 people were expected at the downtown Atlanta rally.

Organizers said there were some 1,800 tea party events scheduled around the country, styled off the pre-Revolutionary War demonstration in Boston.