Ground zero from DC: what could have been an Inauguration Day disaster

Carla Axtman

(My apologies for the layout of this post. Apparently TypePad has made some changes and I can't figure out why it won't break up my paragraphs or thumbnail the photos)

I've been in Washington, D.C. for a few days but tonight is the first time I've had an opportunity for some time quiet enough to blog. It's been a breathtaking whirlwind of activity since my plane touched down on Sunday. I'll have more to say on the various events and activities over the last couple of days later. But I wanted to blog about what happened today while the events are still especially fresh in my mind.

The mood in the area is joyous. People are everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Never in my life have I seen such crowds, generally very well behaved. And never in my life have I seen such inept, lax and frighteningly derelict security. The pictures you see here are from my friend. They aren't mine (mine will come later).

We arrived downtown near the 3rd Street tunnel about 6:45AM and the street was packed to the gills with people. We were told that the gate to the tunnel would open at 7AM. Then it was moved to 7:30. Then police cars and tow trucks and trailers carrying police horses were nudged through the sea of people, who were forced to part like the red sea to let them through. We were then told that because we had tickets to the blue seating area, we were in the wrong place and we needed to walk around to a completely different spot...which turned out to be the wrong information.

After walking for several more hours seeing very few security offering virtually no information to the crowd as to where to go (forget how to get anywhere--we couldn't get any consistent information on how to get to our gate), we finally found the line for the Blue Gate, which wound around the streets forming what looked like an enormous multi-block mobius strip. And it wasn't moving. At all. Still almost no security. Still nobody communicating with the crowds. I heard much later than the metal detectors went down and that security was doing pat-downs of those trying to get in. Apparently the generator quit working and they couldn't get another one in a timely manner.

At that point, we abandoned all attempts to get into our section (as did many others) and decided to head to the Mall and watch things on the JumboTrons. Our trek took us near the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where the crowds were literally shoulder-to-shoulder, packed like sardines. At one point, people began jumping the barricades without so much as a single security person stopping and redirecting. A town car attempted to push its way through the crowd, honking and inching forward behind people with young children. No police. No security.

As my friend noted this evening, we were absolutely at the mercy of the people around us. If one person would have decided to act in a nefarious way, there's very little that could have been done about it, save the crowd rushing the person or persons. If people would have started pushing and shoving in frustration, there would have been many serious injuries and likely even deaths.

When we finally made it to the mall, we were able to watch our new President's swearing in on the giant screens. But afterward as the exodus proceeded, allowed only 2-3 exits and again, very little security.

There's even a Facebook group dedicated to holders of purple tickets, who had experiences similar to ours.

This is a city that was attacked on 9/11. It's a city that has at least 12 different police forces and no representation in the Congress. Our very new, history making President calls it his home. Could he have been in real danger today because people were allowed to shove through the security barricades and fences..and lack of checks in the alleged ticketed areas? If an attack had happened in the city targeting the crowds, how many would have died due to a lack of security?

I've heard that the silver-ticketed section was even worse. People pushed through the mesh fencing and blew past security, many without being stopped or checked.

I'll have lots of photos of the events that I will hopefully post late this week (I've forgotten my card reader--ugh).

By Carla Axtman Jan. 20, 2009