The Taxpayer March on Washington (also known as the 9/12 Tea Party) was a Tea Party protest march from Freedom Plaza to the United States Capitol held on September 12, 2009, in Washington, D.C.[1][2] The event coincided with similar protests organized in various cities across the nation.

[3] The protesters rallied against what they consider big government, the dismantling of free market capitalism, abortion, and President Barack Obama's proposals on health care reform, taxation, and federal spending, among other issues.

[3][4][5][6][7][8] The lead organizer of the event was Brendan Steinhauser, who was serving as the Director of Federal and State Campaigns for FreedomWorks.

[9][10][11][12][13] The event was also promoted by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck as a symbol of what he called "national unity" following the eight-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

[23][24] C-SPAN recorded the entire two-hour-50-minute rally, which was officially kicked off at 1:11 p.m. with a welcoming speech by Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots.

[30] Gene Healy, author and vice president at the libertarian Cato Institute, expressed the opinion that the signs generally focused on opposition to government bailouts, Obama's proposal on health care reform, and the appointment of presidential "czars".

ABC News later published an article saying that they were misquoted by Kibbe, and went on to report that 60,000 to 70,000 had attended the event, citing the unofficial D.C. Fire Department number.

[18][38] Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, one of the organizations that sponsored the march, said the group estimated the crowd at 75,000 in the morning and from 200,000 and 300,000 as the day went on.