Reports from the Inauguration say that thousands were turned away at gates for Blue, Purple and Silver ticket holders. I can confirm that because I was one of them.
The morning of the Inauguration, with my Purple ticket in hand, I smashed myself into the overcrowded metro and marched towards the Capitol. Directed by the only Police Officer I could find to enter the tunnel on 2nd and D, my girlfriend and I - still with high spirits - walked past the tens of thousands of people already in line to meet some former campaign staffers I had worked with half way through the tunnel. This was 7am. Fast forward 4 hours. We made it out of the tunnel only to find our gate was closed.
From discussions with Inaugural Committee staff and volunteers, as well as those lucky enough to get in, the problem was overcrowding. The gates were mobbed early on by people without tickets, or by people holding tickets which were designated for other gates. There was little security or personnel available to remedy the situation and the people without tickets refused to move, making it impossible for those with tickets to move forward to the gate. In addition, people without tickets were able to work their way into Blue and Silver sections.
So for those ticket holders that fought the good fight only to be turned away at the gates, grab a drink, sit back and bask in the warmth of the indoors, and enjoy the Inaugural address of our 44th President, Barack Obama.
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I was turned away at Blue gate.Gave up at 11:45.We were in line by 8 am.We had blue west standing tickets given to us by US Congressman.Drove from Florida.Robbed of moment in history.Abandoned.Isolated.Felt like on desert island.Was almost run over by secret service car.Sqished pushed and pulled.Yelled at by mean women with secret service.Treated like crap when we were ticket holders.Someone did not hold their end of the deal here.This was the most unorganized pathetic event ever.Thousands of us with blue tickets did not get in to the capital grounds.This is unacceptable.I am so glad there will be an investigation into this.I have never been so dissapointed in all my life.
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