Governor Carcieri, with First Lady Sue Carcieri at his side, addresses the crowd at the Gaspee Tea Party rally held at the State House on Wednesday. He then invited the protesters into the State House.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE –– The angry men and women flooded through the marble hallways of the State House Wednesday night, an estimated 500 strong, united in a simple message against government spending and new taxes.

It had long been a theme on talk radio airwaves and in Governor Carcieri’s news conferences. But never before had it been delivered in such force inside the state Capitol by ordinary Rhode Islanders.

“No more taxes!” the protesters screamed, banging on closed doors and waving signs as they poured past the offices of Rhode Island’s most powerful legislators, most of whom had gone home for the day.

Capitol Police Sgt. Joseph Habershaw said that the group — calling itself the “Gaspee Tea Party” — was the largest protest under the dome since the credit union crisis of the early 1990s. He estimated that a preceding outdoor rally drew as many as 700, although the governor’s communications director, John Robitaille, guessed it was “at least 1,000.”

Almost 237 years to the day after Rhode Islanders burned the British revenue ship Gaspee to protest oppression and taxation, the demonstrators warned lawmakers that they’re paying close attention to budgetary decisions expected in the coming weeks as state government struggles to close a massive budget deficit.

It was largely the same crowd that gathered on the State House steps less than two months ago for another Tea Party.

“We’re back! And we’re not going away,” event coordinator Colleen Conley said as the outdoor program began. “It’s time that the General Assembly realizes there is a new special interest in town: that is, we the people.”

There were signs everywhere: “Unions Destroy Capitalism and Free Enterprise,” “Illegals Raise Our Taxes,” “Revolt Against Socialism,” and “We’re Mad as Hell.”

Indeed, those who gathered on Smith Hill yesterday were openly furious about teachers’ salaries, labor unions’ “stranglehold” on state politics, and taxes.

“I’m tired of being taxed to death,” said Beverly Daniels, 62, of North Providence, a retired factory worker, whose sign read, “I’ve joined the RI revolt.” “I’m here to let [the Assembly] know how I feel. Whether they listen or not is a different story.”

Inside the building, few lawmakers paid attention to the outdoor event. Some didn’t realize it was going on.

Earlier in the day, House Finance Committee chairman Steven M. Costantino discounted the premise that state spending was out of control.

“I think we’ve done pretty good on spending. I think we’ve dropped spending the last three years,” he said. (State-only spending in the current budget dropped 3.7 percent in the current fiscal year, but increased 5.6 percent the year before.)

Costantino refused to discuss continuing negotiations on next year’s budget plan, expected to be released by the House Finance Committee early next week.

Will there be any tax increases?

“I can’t answer that,” Costantino said of the budget that must fill a $590-million hole. “I’m in the process of negotiating a balanced budget.”

Back at the rally, Carcieri made a surprise appearance.

“There are people walking around there trying to get money out of your pockets,” the Republican governor said, pointing at the State House behind him.

Conley joined the governor in inviting the protesters to move indoors.

“We’re going to storm the Bastille,” she said. “We’re going to hoot and holler and scare the crap out of them.”

Capitol Police officers had gathered to move people through the lone metal detector as quickly as possible. Authorities required them to remove the wooden sticks from their signs. And they used orange cones to outline a pre-approved route from the front door, upstairs to the House and Senate chambers, and out the back door.

It took everyone nearly an hour to clear security. But it didn’t take long for them to disregard the cones.

At the suggestion of Republican Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, they quickly moved to the third-floor offices of the Assembly leaders. Most had left for the day, but House Speaker William J. Murphy was still in his office. He emerged briefly to speak with demonstrators.

Lisa Blais, of Providence, one of the protesters, briefly stopped to watch the action.

“It’s about time regular folks run around this State House,” she said. “It’s overdue.”

Freshman Rep. Peter F. Martin, D-Newport, was among the few elected officials still in the building.

“It’s democracy in action,” Martin said, adding that the budget outlook is messy. “Do they have any answers? If they have answers, do they have any methods to implement them? What services and programs are they willing to give up?”

speoples@projo.com