Chattanooga Tea Party president Brendan Jennings posted the following on Thursday to Tea Party members via its website and social media:
"For a variety of reasons, the officers of the Chattanooga Tea Party hereby serve notice of the intent to dissolve the organization effective Jan. 31, 2021.
"It’s important for any viable organization to foster broad participation and bring in new people who can provide a fresh perspective and energy to move things forward. The pandemic made those efforts more challenging and also put a crimp in our fundraising efforts.
"Nevertheless, we are proud of what the Chattanooga Tea Party and our collective group of citizens have been able to accomplish in our 12 years of existence. We brought in national speakers, such as Senator Ted Cruz, David Barton and former presidential candidate Rick Santorum. We held several candidate forums featuring candidates for various local and state political offices. We held monthly meetings that educated citizens on local issues, and in many cases we were able to positively influence outcomes in state and local issues and elections. We built a broad and active social media network so that our supporters could better influence lawmakers, keep in touch with each other and share their opinions in the open, as Americans have done (up to now, at least) since before our nation’s founding in 1776.
"Despite the closing of the local 501(c)(4) organization, as free citizens with freedom of association you are invited to continue to interact with us and each other via social media and email. We will maintain our full social media presence until relevant subscriptions expire, and you will have an opportunity to opt in to a new conservative group that will be presented and described in separate messaging. In a way, we have an opportunity to simply migrate into a different type of organization. More on that soon.
"And if you want to be active on other conservative fronts, check into these two groups that are fighting against overreaching executive orders from Governor Lee and local mayors:
Tennessee Stands (https://tennesseestands.org)
Hamilton County Advocates for Freedom (Facebook Group)
"In the meantime, thank you for your support over the years. I hope it clearly demonstrated the power and influence a group of concerned American citizens can have when organized into a coherent organization with clear objectives and a determination to be heard. God willing, that’s something that will not change."