My Letter To The Inauguration Committee
Dear Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Bennett and Secret Service:
Having attended the Olympics and two national political conventions, I was surprised at the mass chaos and confusion that I witnessed and experienced at the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.
I was the bearer of a “North Standing - Purple” ticket to the inauguration. In preparation for the big day, I visited numerous government websites and obtained all of the information available to the public. The attached map that I obtained showed that the purple ticket screen point would be located on First Street NW at its intersection with Louisiana Avenue NW.
I entered First Street NW about 8:30 a.m. at its intersection with D Street. I stood there for over 90 minutes without moving an inch. (At one point, I noticed that Jesse Jackson was standing about ten feet away from me.) As the time for the inauguration grew near, I and those around me began to realize that we were not going to make it inside the gate. We all had purple tickets. I would guess that there were close to 10,000 people in a two block radius. There were thousands of people in front of us, thousands more to the sides and back of us, and the line was not moving.
There was a rumor spread that the gate two blocks ahead (which we could not see) had been temporarily closed due to an injury but would be reopening soon. (In reality, I believe that First Street NW had been intentionally blocked off.) Some people were questioning whether the start time of the inauguration would be delayed until we could enter. I told them it wouldn’t.
As the time continued to pass, the crowd grew larger and tighter. No one knew what was going on. Some guy climbed on top of a sidewalk covering and began shouting for people to back up so no one would get hurt. People began shouting questions to him that he was unable to answer. I think he was just a member of the crowd. Several police officers with bikes began pushing their way through the crowd, north on D Street. Tens of people would follow them because they created paths out of the melee. As the officers passed my area, we would ask them questions — but they had no answers.
Eventually, we heard sirens coming closer and closer. A fireman then jumped on top of the sidewalk overpass and began telling people to make way for an ambulance. Yet everyone was already crammed in as tight as possible. (The fireman was also unable to provide answers to the questions shouted to him.) The ambulance inched forward and people squished in even tighter. After it passed, I expected the crowd to relax — but it didn’t. People behind me immediately pushed forward into the space created by the vehicle and the situation worsened. All told, we had three different ambulances pass through the intersection — each one creating a tighter and tighter situation. When the third one came though, a large group of people about 50 feet from me were screaming and yelling as one of their own needed medical attention. They were ignored, the best I could tell.
The situation heightened with every passing minute. I began to fear that a riot would break out. Even without a riot, I feared that some would be seriously injured. Older ladies in my immediate area were beginning to fail under the pressure. Those around them were propping them up. Many people were shouting and asking people to let them out, yet none of us could move. Some particularly pushy people would begin to push through and lots of people would follow. I heard many of people say they were giving up and turning back. Many of them were black, and had made tremendous personal sacrifices to be there for the historic event. Some of them were crying and despondent. It broke my heart to witness this scene.
At one point, I was unable to reach into my own pockets. After struggling for several minutes, I was finally able to retrieve my Blackberry. I began e-mailing and texting other friends with inauguration tickets. I asked them if the situation was the same where they were, etc. After I lifted my arms above my head to text, I was unable to bring them back to my sides because there was simply no room. After awhile, one of my friends responded that the security gate for the tickets was a few blocks north of where the map indicated, and had to be accessed from Constitution Avenue. At that point, there were two women next to me who were frantic to escape from the crowd. I told them to follow me and we headed north on D Street. I pushed and prodded my way through the crowd as gently and persistently as I could. After some time, we were able to make it out. I cannot express the relief it was to break out of that can of sardines.
I then headed north and then turned west to Louisiana Ave. where I saw the “real” line for the purple security gate. I got into that line and it was actually moving. The line inched forward very slowly. At about 11:25 a.m., I was within 15 feet of the first security gate where they were checking for tickets. The crowd then began strongly pushing from behind me as people began to panic that the event was going to start without them. I was pushed to the security gate and quickly flashed my purple card. I then was able to choose between about 20 security lines with metal detectors, etc.
By about 11:30, I was through the second security check. I immediately proceeded to my Purple North Standing Section, but was turned away by security. They said the section was “closed” because it was “full” I found this somewhat unbelievable, as I knew there were thousands of purple ticket holders behind me (as well as those still stuck on First Street). As a result, I had no where to go. I wandered around the back sections and witnessed people trampling the green netted security fences, climbing trees, and even standing on top of the portable toilets. It was quite a sight. As the ceremonies proceeded, the small slivers of space where a Jumbo-Tron could be viewed became crowded. I eventually worked my way into the blue standing area, but it was so crowded that even the latrines were inaccessible unless you asked someone to move.
One of my friends with a blue ticket never made it in. Her sister got in, but witnessed many people without any tickets entering the silver ticket area. She said that when the gates opened at 8:00 a.m., no one at the silver gate was even checking for tickets. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.