Art Pope, left, and a protester gesture to each other during a demonstration outside the Doubletree Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh Thursday. (CJ photo by Barry Smith)

About a dozen – maybe more; I didn’t take an exact count – protesters decided to demonstrate outside a Civitas Institute luncheon Thursday. The small crowd gathered to protest Art Pope, who was to speak at the Civitas luncheon, in which it released its latest poll data.

Art Pope and a protester talk with each other during a demonstration Thursday in Raleigh. (CJ photo by Barry Smith)

Pope, whose foundation contributes to a number of organizations, including the Civitas Institute and the John Locke Foundation, which publishes Carolina Journal, decided to meet with the protesters before the luncheon began.

I don’t think they came to a meeting of the minds. But the exchange was quite civil.