Mark Meckler

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Mark Meckler

More Internal Strife For The Tea Party Patriots As Co-Founder Resigns

Jillian Rayfield | February 24, 2012, 4:39PM

Mark Meckler, the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, announced Friday that he would be leaving over differences in the group's direction.

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Topics: Amy Kremer, Jenny Beth Martin, Mark Meckler, Tea Party Patriots

Tea Party Leader Mark Meckler Arrested With Handgun At Airport

Benjy Sarlin | December 15, 2011, 7:13PM

Mark Meckler, Tea Partier

Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and one of the most prominent spokesmen for the grassroots movement, was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on Thursday after trying to check in a handgun on his flight.

According to the Queens District Attorney's office, Meckler arrived at the airport with the gun, a Glock 27, and ammunition locked in a safe and presented it to the flight attendant at the Delta counter. He allegedly told authorities that he needed the gun for protection after receiving threats, but did not have a New York State license to carry the weapon. He's being charged with second degree possession of an illegal weapon, a charge that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

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Topics: Mark Meckler

Top Tea Party Leader Was Paid By GOP Biz Group's Campaign

Zachary Roth | March 3, 2010, 11:35AM

Tea Party Patriots leader Mark Meckler

A top Tea Party leader who has publicly distanced his group from the GOP was recently paid by a campaign run by an influential California Republican business organization, to gather signatures for a ballot initiative that's long been a key goal of the state party.

Mark Meckler, one of two national spokespeople for the Tea Party Patriots, was recently paid $7,500 for "petition circulation management" by the "Citizen Power Campaign Supported by the Lincoln Club of Orange County," according to state disclosure records. Meckler's involvement with the campaign was first reported last month by the website Red County.

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Topics: Carly Fiorina, Citizen Power Campaign, Lincoln Club of Orange County, Mark Meckler, Steve Poizner, Tea Parties, Tea Party Patriots

Mark Meckler

Tea Party Leader Was Involved With GOP-Tied Political Firm

Zachary Roth | March 2, 2010, 11:13AM

Tea Party Patriots leader Mark Meckler

Mark Meckler, a top Tea Party leader, has worked hard to position the movement as a grassroots uprising, independent of both political parties. But just a few years ago, Meckler was involved in an online political consulting firm with ties to the GOP -- a fact that could intensify the fears of some Tea Party activists that their movement is being hijacked by Republican political operatives.

Since last year, Meckler, a northern California lawyer, has emerged as one of two national leaders and spokespeople for the Tea Party Patriots, giving frequent interviews to national news outlets. Working closely with the Atlanta-based Jenny Beth Martin, Meckler has helped build TPP into perhaps the largest and most prominent of the various Tea Party factions. If the notoriously decentralized Tea Party movement can be said to have a spokesman, Meckler has as good a claim to the title as just about anyone.

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Topics: Jenny Beth Martin, Mark Meckler, Michael Steele, Republican National Committee, Tea Parties, Tea Party Express, Tea Party Patriots

Tea Parties

Tea Party Dilemma: To GOP Or Not To GOP?

Zachary Roth | January 22, 2010, 9:03AM

Like thousands of other Americans, Jim Knapp got involved with the Tea Party movement in the spring of 2009. Knapp, who lives in Sacramento, California, helped form a local group that organized a well-attended event on Tax Day last April.

But around May, something unexpected happened: Locally-based Republican party strategists started coming to the group's meetings. That alarmed Knapp and many of his fellow activists, who were motivated in large part by a deep suspicion of both major parties. "I said, 'what the fuck are you doing here?'" the blunt-spoken Knapp told TPMmuckraker.