Comments on: Leaving the Mall: Hopeless

By: Lyndon

Lyndon — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:40:03 +0000

I somehow managed to dodge the whole 3rd St.Tunnel fiasco.Silver ticket in hand. Only to fall victim to the "You ain't leaving" fiasco.After Obama spoke;I began a mind numbing ordeal that spanned some 3 hrs. It included police threats;a lot of misdirection from authorities. It included pushing;shoving;shouting;panic;running;climbing over fences;squeezing between fences and crawling under fences. I essentially walked and climbed from the lawn of the Capitol all the way to Dupont Circle. There the crowds died down and I continued my slog home.I finally caught a bus to my Petworth home from in front of Howard University Hospital.The bus ride was quiet and fast.What did I do to desrve this?

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:36:18 +0000

I was a purple ticket holder who actually made onto the Capitol grounds to see the ceremony! We walked to the Purple Gate area from the Gallery Place metro station (Verizon Center exit). We IGNORED the police and so-called volunteers in the streets near First and Constitution (the Purple Gate) telling everyone to go to the Third Street tunnel to where the line was. That was just retarded when you could SEE the security checkpoint on the other side of the high metal fence not being used. A small opening in the fence eventually appeared which let only two people wide through at a time. There were STILL people without tickets trying to get through this opening, and that made matters worse than it needed to be. We made it through the security check at 10:04 am. Leaving was relatively easy. Most of the crowd on the north side of the Hill was already in motion once the poem was being read, so my primary goal was to get north of Constitution Ave. as quickly as possible to avoid being trapped for the parade which I didn't want to stick around for. We crossed Constitution exactly as former Pres Bush flew directly overhead in the giant Marine helicopter. I knew going back to Gallery Place would be futile, and Union Station was far too crowded as well. So we headed a little further east and had a really nice lunch at La Loma on Mass Ave. and waited out the crowds with enchiladas and Margaritas. Still to be safe, we walked up to NY Ave Metro station which was practically empty. Took a red line train all the way to Woodley Park Station and walked the rest of the way home through Adams Morgan to Mt. Pleasant. We were home by 3:30 -- before the parade had even begun.

By: JenJen

JenJen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:18:34 +0000

I got stuck in that mad crush trying to get into Union Station around 4:30 pm (photo of it at my blog), but other than that, found getting out a lot easier than getting in. I also found almost everyone we encountered to be jovial and good-natured. It could have been so much worse.

But most of the people I have talked to concur with your hellish Mall experience. And I hope this event is studied and corrected, many times over.

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:09:57 +0000

Sorry about the typos just tired after all the hours I worked over the past week

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:08:56 +0000

I wanted to make some comments but I realized that nothing anyone could say would cahnge your mind. Cherkis has a hard on for MPD and anything he writes will be bias. Guess he did not like his home address being placed on a web site with the suggestion that he get special attention. Leading up to this event folks were warned about the problems. There were some mistakes but I would challange any of you to come up with a plan and manage a crwod which was the largest this city has ever seen. You should also get of the National Guard, many were on post for 20 hours. Lets no forget the security concerns for the event. I am just shaking my head. If you want to blame someone for a rough day look in the mirror.

By: al gonzales

al gonzales — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:42 +0000

The criminally inept handling of the Jan 20 crowd was a debacle, & only a missing spark kept the debacle from devolving into a tragedy, with dozens of people trampled. The "happy" posters here ignore the facts that about 7,000 people were trapped in the Third Street tunnel for hours, that the police needlessly forced hundreds of thousands of people to walk miles out of their way, and that the only concern of the authorities was to create a sense of false security.
Anyone who wanted to cause trouble could have done anything s/he wanted. People who were there to commemorate a historic event were needlessly punished.
Heads should roll in the security apparatus, but since it's Washington, odds are nothing will happen, other than a study by a committee. If Barak truly wants to establish a new era of responsibility, he could start with firing all the incompetent officials who "planned" this debacle.

By: Detroiter

Detroiter — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:01:56 +0000

We looked at the maps and decided the easiest way to get from 7th & F to the mall was to cross the parade route. Initially we went to 7th & D but heard a rumor that a water main had broken there and no one was getting through. We headed up E to 10th but were told that was only for the parade, but that 12th would let us across. After hearing various people say we could or could not cross there a DC cop took a megaphone and told us the entrance was only for the parade and gave us directions to the mall: go up to K and then down 18th. This worked beautifully. We only made it as far as the Washington Monument for the inauguration. You were lucky to get as far as 3rd! On the way out it was uncomfortable. We got stuck between the rows of Don's Johns and the fence, and we were barely moving. Some people tried pushing the fences down to escape but there was no where for them to go because that direction was closed off for the parade. People could have been hurt but the police set everyone straight (as well as the fences). The problem was the way we tried to exit went past a barricade with a narrow opening only allowing 3 people at a time to pass. Once we got past that it was fairly easy going. It just took a long time. We went back almost the same way we came: 18th to H instead of K. Yes, we had to make way for ambulances, a car, and wait at an intersection for a stream of empty buses. But it really wasn't that bad. It was about the same as going to see the Thanksgiving Day parade or 4th of July fireworks in Detroit. Those events regularly pack in over a million people. You have to just realize that it takes time for that many people to disperse. The National Guard? They were doing their job. Their orders were not to be tour guides; they were there for crowd control. You think that's scary that you were threatened with pepper spray? You should have been with me when we crossed the border to Canada post 9/11 when the Guard were helping out and brandishing their guns. Crossing the border here for some is a daily event, and in the past it was a more casual thing. To have the Guard yelling at you for your ID while holding hire-power rifles is a little unsettling. But once again they were following orders and doing their job. And if a mob had gotten out of control and started trampling people you would have been thanking the Guard for your life! Was it uncomfortable? Sure. Did it appear unorganized? Sure. Was it "hopeless"? "Hell?" That's a bit extreme. I've had friends that were in more dire straights at a Stones concert when the crowd surged towards the stage, pushing dangerously on everyone up front. What about the "Camp Randall Crush", when fans tried to rush the field and ended up trampling and injuring people? That sounds more like "hell" to me. Next time you want to go to an event with a million people maybe you should just stay home and watch the TV? Or maybe try a different attitude and be flexible to change your plans to suit the situation as it unfolds.

By: lou

lou — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:50:36 +0000

I think they put so much focus on planning for the people coming to the inauguration that they didn't take into account people leaving the inauguration. Really, the volunteers weren't really needed to get people to the Mall. They were needed to help people to get away from the Mall.

And really, what was needed more than anything was signage.

By: Arlen

Arlen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:47:18 +0000

It would seem that this was just another example of Washington failing to have an exit strategy.

By: Jason Cherkis

Jason Cherkis — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:58:42 +0000

Wow. Not a single arrest. Why does that surprise you? Sure there were people that didn't have a clue. But a lot of those people were wearing uniforms that morning.

What could have been done? Hmmm. Let me think. Planners could have put out a reliable map and stuck to it. PIC should have put volunteers at every intersection. These volunteers could have had reliable information. I talked with one volunteer who said that a) their team leader didn't show up; b) they were essentially on their own without a single piece of useful information.

I'm not sure why third street was closed when we arrived there. Our plan was to use the map, exit via the tunnel (as the map indicated). The police told us it was closed. When we asked why, they ignored us. And they ignored others who were asking the same question.

W/ third street closed, Independence Ave was also shut down from Third all the way up to the Cap. There was only one really way out--either camp out at Metro stop or walk west until we hit 17th.

Along the way, we saw a lot of tired seniors, confused parents, etc. Everyone, of course, was cold. Certain streets cars could attempt to drive through the crowds (unassisted by the police). One bus tried to drive through our crowd and just stopped midway into the intersection and gave up.

The police and planners didn't do all the could. They failed in one essential way: to have a exit plan and stick to it, and to arm the police and volunteers with reliable information.

By: JohnD

JohnD — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:46:00 +0000

I am not sure why you were told that the Third Street Tunnel was closed. Maybe they didn't open it up until after Bush's helicopter departed, but we walked from 12th Street on the Mall and encountered only one bottleneck at 7th and D Streets SW. We continued on to the tunnel and it was wide open. This was essentially the route we took to get to the inauguration that morning in reverse.

It is my opinion that the police and planners did all they could with the expect throng. When you are coming to an event that more than 2 million people are expected to come to, PLAN! You can't expect to get a personal tour guide to tell you how to get around. I saw a lot of people leaving after the swearing in and they started heading towards Pennsylvania Avenue. If any of them bothered to read ANYTHING regarding the inauguration they would have known that Penn Ave was closed from the Capitol to the White House. I applaud DC and everyone involved for running as smooth an event as possible considering the circumstance. Don't forget, there was also not a single arrest.

By: Thoughts on the inauguration « U Street Girl

Thoughts on the inauguration « U Street Girl — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:35:55 +0000

[...] A lot of misinformation and confusion, but I don’t feel the need to discuss this, as a lot of other outlets have done a very good job covering the [...]

By: Jason Cherkis

Jason Cherkis — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:29:14 +0000

Threatening families with pepper spray isn't professional or civil. Not knowing where anything is--like a metro stop--isn't professional.

You probably set up near the Washington Monument. I was 3rd Street SW. My exit strategy was a simple one--get to 17th Street NW and turn toward downtown. It took nearly three hours to get home. But glad to see your "day went over swimmingly."

By: jeadly

jeadly — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:41:16 +0000

It sounds to me like you kinda suck at the Inauguration. Everyone I encountered was civil and professional. National Guardsmen are not tour guides. They are there to enforce barriers and to prevent dangerous situations that can arise from high density crowds. I'm not fully briefed on the traffic flow designs, nor, probably, were the checkpoints you encountered. Yes there were snafus, but over-all I think the day went over swimmingly.

Also, maybe they wouldn't let you walk west from 18th because the were using buses on Constitution as a physical barrier to divert crowds to 19th and then 20th streets. When managing 2 million people perhaps you should take something into account besides your own expediency. Probably a good lesson for all of us in the coming 4 years.

By: Yoder

Yoder — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:40:45 +0000

Get some stories from the folks who went to the Youth Ball. Now that was hopeless. The "organizers" of that inaugural ball should hang their heads in shame.