Mayhem broke out on Tuesday for the thousands of campaign organizers, Hill staff, and ordinary Americans who held tickets to Tuesday's inauguration. Scores of people with tickets were turned away from the Mall, and many spent the morning waiting underground in the "Purple Tunnel of Doom." Were you there?
The Huffington Post is trying to piece together a detailed account of exactly how the chaos began, and how it grew. Why were the lines for purple and blue ticketholders such a mess? When and why did Silver ticketholders cross the barriers and stream into other sections of the Mall? We're looking for details from ticket holders who had a particularly difficult time getting into the event, or who never made it in at all.
In order to help us create a timeline of events, please provide as many specific details as you can remember, including the rough times of any events mentioned in your accounts. Send your pieces to submissions+mall@huffingtonpost.com.
The U.S. Secret Service has now launched an investigation into conditions on the Mall, but most people who were impacted still don't know for certain what went wrong, so please let us know if you can shed any light on why this happened.
We are trying to publish this story as soon as possible, so please get your submissions in by 5pm this afternoon. The sooner you can send us your account, the more likely it will be used. Send your insight into the mayhem to submissions+mail@huffingtonpost.com.