Weicker Jostled by Income Tax Protesters; 40,000 Urge Repeal

Thousands of protesters shouting “Repeal! Repeal!” rallied Saturday against a new income tax pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who was jostled and spat at when he waded into the crowd.

About 40,000 people jammed the Capitol’s south lawn. Some yelled that Weicker should be impeached.

Three life-size plywood tanks, their cannons trained on the Capitol, were painted with slogans denouncing Weicker. A “wall of shame” beneath the governor’s Capitol office bore the names of the 75 state representatives and 18 senators who voted for the tax.

Weicker, an independent, refused to let lawmakers go home for the summer until they approved the 4.5% state income tax in August. Lawmakers had passed three budgets without the income tax, but Weicker vetoed all of them.

Weicker waded into the crowd unannounced two hours before the rally began. He was shouted down with chants of “Get lost!” and “Go home!” He was hustled into the Capitol by security guards after some protesters pushed him and spat at him.

Weicker said that he simply wanted to talk with the demonstrators. He has insisted that the tax is the only way to solve the state’s budget problems.

“Apparently these people think that the way to solve our budget deficit is by just saying, ‘You suck,’ ” he said.

He later left the Capitol grounds through a tunnel to an adjacent state office building.

Saturday’s protest, organized by the Connecticut Taxpayers Committee, came after payroll deductions began last Tuesday. It culminated weeks of smaller rallies around the state.

The crowd grew steadily as caravans of buses streamed into Hartford. Police said it swelled to 40,000 by the time the rally began. Organizers said 65,000 people turned out.

Police reported no arrests during the two-hour rally.

State House Republican leader Edward C. Krawiecki Jr. said petitions calling for a special session to repeal the income tax likely will be circulated this week.