Will Feinstein Hold Inaugural "Brownies" Accountable for Incompetence?

Much has been written about the thousands of people denied access to Barack Obama's inauguration -- including the plight of those in the purple ticket line who stood in the 3rd Street tunnel for hours and others (including myself) in the blue line who saw the gates shut on them right before Obama's historic event.

Inaugural Chair Dianne Feinstein has promised an investigation. But, in reading over the quotes coming from various people, it appears that Feinstein will soon face a choice: accept the true version of what happened and hold the appropriate people accountable or allow history to be re-written in a way that covers up some gross incompetence.

First, the fake narrative:

The [inaugural] committee said it had based its plan on “historic precedent” and “calculations of the number of guests that could safely be accommodated in each area.” But the crowds were “unprecedented,” the committee said, and a “huge flow of unticketed people” made matters worse. [Bold added.]

More:

Senate Sergeant At Arms Terry Gainer said he thinks there were a number of problems that led to the chaos. He said there may have been more tickets issued than they could handle. [Bold added.]

This narrative basically implies that the inaugural committee planned as well as could be expected, but so many members of the public came out that some folks at the back of the line inevitably got cut. Kind of sucks, but since 2 million people won't be coming to any events in the foreseeable future, no need to "blame" anyone...let's just move on.

But, how does that square with this report from ticket holder Naomi Ishisaka?

My friends and I got to the line at 6 a.m. to begin what would end up being a 5.5 hour epic wait. Standing among the masses including elderly and children, we waited patiently in the Blue line, with our tickets, to enter security. The first few hours the line never moved. We assumed the gates just hadn’t opened yet. Another hour passed...

No officials ever addressed us...The clock kept ticking and we began to worry that the process we had laid so much faith in for the past few hours was going to be a complete and total failure. People began to debate whether they should give up on the line...most expressed certainty that surely the people in charge had it under control and if we just followed the instructions we were given, we would be OK. We were dead wrong.

Or this report from ticket holder Alexandra Gutowski?

My sister and I, as well as thousands of others with purple standing-area tickets, left the US Capitol in disgust. We followed the rules, got up early, took the Metro and then took our place in a pseudo-line and stood for hours, never moving...there was never any guidance or instruction from any authorities...We never saw any Jumbotrons anywhere which would have made this disastrous experience somewhat worthwhile.

These stories sound similar to my own story, which I posted on the Facebook group dedicated to this issue:

The Blue Line wrapped three quarters of the way around a building. I got up at 6:30am and arrived in line around 9 or 9:30am. By 10:30am, we had barely moved. I decided to investigate. I walked to the front of the line, and what I saw was a mob of people in front of the Blue Gate pushing to get in. The "line" funneled into this mob, but I asked multiple people in the mob how long they'd been waiting and they said, "We just got here." In other words, the line was meaningless. It was the illusion of a line. Lots of good people kept waiting and waiting...trusting that those in charge of the event had a system that was working.

In fact, there was not a single Inauguration staffer or volunteer anywhere to be seen. There was no cop on the beat. No rules being enforced. And that's why so many people are angry after "waiting in line for hours"...it's not that they waited in line and just happened not to get in...they got up early and waited in line, while those who cut the line got in.

Also, there were no speakers or screens near the line, to allow people to watch and listen to what was happening.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen summed up:

Despite following the rules, they were still denied access. And worse yet, they were kept in the dark - deprived of information - as the hours passed and their hopes of seeing history in the making slipped away.

Senator Feinstein has said that "a souvenir program, color photos of President Obama and other memorabilia" will be sent to the victims (to remind them of images they missed). She's also said, "There will be an after-action report compiled, not to cast blame, but to help us understand what mistakes were made so that we can make sure they are not repeated at future Inaugurals."

But why not hold people accountable? Just like "Brownie" should never again work a disaster relief effort, why should people who designed an Inauguration event where "lines" were meaningless and zero staffers were available to help the public at key moments ever be trusted with another major event? This is the question Feinstein must answer.

(If you have a story to share, consider doing it on the wall of this Facebook group.) 

UPDATE: Huffington Post staff put together an excellent composite of what happened in the purple line here, after getting hundreds of first-hand accounts.

Comments

[SarCanz]

I think one cause of problems was that many people in the huge crowd were unfamiliar with DC. Because, we've had to deal with security perimeters for years, locals plan trips to avoid checkpoints whenever possible. My family gets a fine view of July 4th fireworks sitting just outside the security perimeter. Also, locals know more about the Mall.

It would have helped if visitors were told that they did not need tickets to see the ceremony. I left my house near Washington Cathedral at 9:00; got a seat (& souvenir ticket) on a bus nearby, and was standing by a Jumbotron near the Lincoln Memorial before the ceremony started. I was not as close to the Capitol as people with tickets but, via Jumbotron, I may have seen more than they did, and I had the pleasure of seeing the event in a historic place. And a short walk got me out of the cold quickly.

I am a Washingtonian who regularly offers help to tourists. So I am sorry that even 5000 people came here with such high hopes and had a miserable experience. Still I’m sure that the many people who worked on the Inauguration did the best they could.

I hope you can put aside your anger and enjoy seeing our country finally emerging from the long, dark tunnel of the last eight years. And please visit Washington again, so you can experience what is beautiful and charming about DC.

[Ticket holder]

The 5,000 number is a total whitewash. The Washington Post printed a satelite photo of the event showing tens of thousands of ticket holders massed at the Purple, Blue and Silver gates at 11:20 in the morning, while there are large swaths of ground uncovered inside the Silver area (if not others). Additionally, there are hundreds of Americans saying they did not enounter any security personnel to insure their safety or provide instruction and organization to the crowd.
It is dumb luck that there were no major injuries and a testament to the people who kept a positive and patient demeanor throughout. If it were a problem created by a crowd, it wouldn't be an issue. The problem seems to derive from a lack of planning and execution by officials, however.
MOST importantly, the lack of ability to control and protect a crowd led to conditions in which our beloved President was not as protected as he should be - VAST numbers of people made their way into these areas without being screened by security, which were supposed to be secure areas for the President.

[Nightwing69]

My question to the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and to the PIC volunteers­..."Where'­s Rita?" I started out my journey at 7:00 a.m. on 3rd St. by the Silver Section, where a Capitol Police Officer told me that I couldn't cross over to Constitution from there (I discovered later from some other Purple Ticket holders that they indeed did cross over at 3rd Street). The officer told me emphatically (and a bit nastily) that I had to go to 6th St. to cross over in order to reach the Purple Gate. Well...I arrived at 6th St., where another Capitol Police Officer told me I couldn't cross over at that location, and that had to go down to 14th to cross to go up Constitution to get to the Purple Ticket Holder gate. A young man, Kyle, who had flew in from London to Louisiana, took a bus from Louisiana to Baltimore, and who had left Baltimore at 3:00 a.m. to get to the Inauguration, joined me in my walk to 14th St.

[Nightwing69]

When we arrived someplace close to 6th and Constitution, we encountered our first PIC volunteer of the day. The volunteer emphatically (and a bit angrily) told us that we had to return to the 3rd Street Silver Entrance to get to the Purple Section, as the Purple Gate was closed, and that we wouldn't be allowed in. As we tried to return to the 3rd Street Silver Section, Capitol Police and Metro Police, who told us that every venue leading to the 3rd Street Silver Section was closed, turned us away at some point. That's when we met Rita, a 50ish woman who had flew in from Inglewood, California for the Inauguration, who also had a purple ticket, and who also didn't know what to do or where to go. So, she joined us. Rita was very, very tired, and walked pretty slowly...I held her hand throughout much of our journey, and Kyle and I tried to keep her flagging spirits up as much as possible.

[Nightwing69]

We walked, and walked, and walked...we finally ran into some PIC volunteers who told us that the Purple Gate WOULD BE OPENED at 11:00 a.m.we just had to get there. We passed through a security gate (where Rita, unfortunately, was rushed through and lost her eyeglasses), and headed up Pennsylvania Avenue...where we found out that we couldn't cross UNTIL 11:00 a.m. We waited...and waited...and waited. We finally were allowed to cross, and made our way up to a Purple Gate...and met about 2,000 people waiting at that gate to get in. No luck. So, we proceeded up to 1st Street, where we also saw thousands of folks who couldn't get in. I had to use the restroom there were a sparse amount of port-o-potties along our route, and none at our last stop. When I returned, I couldn’t find Rita or Kyle.

[Nightwing69]

I walked for FIVE HOURS, always directed by and following the directions of the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and PIC volunteers. Kyle flew in from LONDON, and had been there for about SEVEN HOURS. Rita, who seemed to not know the D.C. at all and who flew in from Inglewood, CA, had been there for at least FIVE HOURS. And for what? For the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and PIC volunteers to snarl at us all day and give us incorrect information at EACH AND EVERY TURN?

[Nightwing69]

To add injury to insult, the Capitol Police Chief LIED about what went on? And some other fool (Gainer) basically told the 5,000 or more of us who had come here specifically to attend the Inauguration to "get over it?"

The Capitol Police, the Metro Police and the PIC volunteers DID A LOUSY, PATHETIC, EMBARRASSING, INCOMPETENT JOB. Who will hold them accountable? A mere apology from them at this point is as bogus as their collective

[Nightwing69]

incompetence. And this lame, woeful, and wholly inadequate "apology" from the organizing committee? Do they have ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER how harmful and pain inducing their actions and inactions were to thousands of people? Do they have ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER how many U.S. Citizens (and foreign visitors) flew to D.C., spent a ton of money and waited all damn day in the cold just to end up walking away from HISTORY???

However, the most horrifying thing to me is that I don't know what happened to Rita. She was alone, extremely tired, lost, hungry and confused. Kyle seemed like a wonderful and honorable young man, but I nevertheless wonder...where's Rita?

[stevi]

This was, for the most part, a spectacular day. Any failure to perfectly organize this event could have easily been dealt with by some honesty and genuine intent to explain what went wrong. All DiFi needs to do is cozy up to a little truth and let folks know. In her own style she will never openly admit to error, we know that. It is probably someone else who did something else and she knew nothing about it. Too bad, because otherwise this event was as well done as it could be considering 2 million people were involved. Just a little truth could make these people feel at least that they weren't lied to on top of everything else. Do Washington insiders really believe that the PEOPLE are stupid? Never mind, I know that answer to that.

[Adam Green - Huffpost Blogger]

I totally agree.

I actually wasn't "angry" when the gates closed on me, or as I metro'ed home. I was thrilled that Obama was being sworn in. It was a great day!

But the lack of honesty in addressing what went wrong was the real issue -- or, as I said above, the laying of groundwork for a dishonest answer being given to the public. So, my goal in writing this post was to call attention to the honest answer and dishonest answer before Feinstein fully enbraces either, and to urge her to do so.

And along with that honest answer, we'll need accountability for those who were the source of the problem. By accountability, I mean folks who had no regard for the public's user-experience when setting up this event -- and only were concerned about the photo op -- should be called out publicly and not be given public event planning jobs in the future.

[Jeff Wheeland]

I too was a member of the Blue Gate Fiasco. I arrive at 7am, waited 5 hours in line, saw only three security personnel (only one who gave a brief explanation of what was happening) and was not allowed to enter. I have a full description of my experiences at:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2347-Latin-America-Travel-Examiner~y2009m1d22-The-Obama-inauguration-the-blue-ticket-fiasco

I am trying to move on from my disappointment, but the more I read from Senator Feinstein and especially Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terry Gainer, the more frustrated I get. Acknowledge our deep disappointment, take responsibility, apologize, ensure that the problems will be solved, and we will all be able to finally celebrate that we have a great new President.

[Nightwing69]

The Capitol Police, the Metro Police and the PIC volunteers DID A LOUSY, PATHETIC, EMBARRASSING, INCOMPETENT JOB. Who will hold them accountable? A mere apology from them at this point is as bogus as their collective incompetence. And this lame, woeful, and wholly inadequate "apology" from the organizing committee? Do they have ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER how harmful and pain inducing their actions and inactions were to thousands of people? Do they have ANY IDEA WHATSOEVER how many U.S. Citizens (and foreign visitors) flew to D.C., spent a ton of money and waited all damn day in the cold just to end up walking away from HISTORY???

However, the most horrifying thing to me is that I don't know what happened to Rita. She was alone, extremely tired, lost, hungry and confused. Kyle seemed like a wonderful and honorable young man, but I nevertheless wonder...where's Rita?

[Nightwing69]

I had to use the restroom there were a sparse amount of port-o-potties along our route, and none at our last stop. When I returned, I couldn’t find Rita or Kyle.

I walked for FIVE HOURS, always directed by and following the directions of the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and PIC volunteers. Kyle flew in from LONDON, and had been there for about SEVEN HOURS. Rita, who seemed to not know the D.C. at all and who flew in from Inglewood, CA, had been there for at least FIVE HOURS. And for what? For the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and PIC volunteers to snarl at us all day and give us incorrect information at EACH AND EVERY TURN?

To add injury to insult, the Capitol Police Chief LIED about what went on? And some other fool (Gainer) basically told the 5,000 or more of us who had come here specifically to attend the Inauguration to "get over it?"

[Nightwing69]

As we tried to return to the 3rd Street Silver Section, Capitol Police and Metro Police, who told us that every venue leading to the 3rd Street Silver Section was closed, turned us away at some point. That's when we met Rita, a 50ish woman who had flew in from Inglewood, California for the Inauguration, who also had a purple ticket, and who also didn't know what to do or where to go. So, she joined us. Rita was very, very tired, and walked pretty slowly...I held her hand throughout much of our journey, and Kyle and I tried to keep her flagging spirits up as much as possible. We walked, and walked, and walked...we finally ran into some PIC volunteers who told us that the Purple Gate WOULD BE OPENED at 11:00 a.m.we just had to get there. We passed through a security gate (where Rita, unfortunately, was rushed through and lost her eyeglasses), and headed up Pennsylvania Avenue...where we found out that we couldn't cross UNTIL 11:00 a.m. We waited...and waited...and waited. We finally were allowed to cross, and made our way up to a Purple Gate...and met about 2,000 people waiting at that gate to get in. No luck. So, we proceeded up to 1st Street, where we also saw thousands of folks who couldn't get in.

[Nightwing69]

My question to the Capitol Police, the Metro Police and to the PIC volunteers­..."Where'­s Rita?" I started out my journey at 7:00 a.m. on 3rd St. by the Silver Section, where a Capitol Police Officer told me that I couldn't cross over to Constitution from there (I discovered later from some other Purple Ticket holders that they indeed did cross over at 3rd Street). The officer told me emphatically (and a bit nastily) that I had to go to 6th St. to cross over in order to reach the Purple Gate. Well...I arrived at 6th St., where another Capitol Police Officer told me I couldn't cross over at that location, and that had to go down to 14th to cross to go up Constitution to get to the Purple Ticket Holder gate. A young man, Kyle, who had flew in from London to Louisiana, took a bus from Louisiana to Baltimore, and who had left Baltimore at 3:00 a.m. to get to the Inauguration, joined me in my walk to 14th St. When we arrived someplace close to 6th and Constitution, we encountered our first PIC volunteer of the day. The volunteer emphatically (and a bit angrily) told us that we had to return to the 3rd Street Silver Entrance to get to the Purple Section, as the Purple Gate was closed, and that we wouldn't be allowed in.

[Helzapoppin]

Diane Feinstein, Inaugural Chair. . .

well, there's your first mistake

[Transcendentobserver]

This post and a number of media reports define the problem is that "thousands of ticket holders could not get through security onto the mall." One account projected the umber "as high as 5,000." If my calculations are correct that is approximately two tenths of one percent of the attendees so disserved. Unfortunate as that is to those persons, given the span of unknowns and unknowables in such a totally unprecedented event, that is indeed an amazing positive record. The blogger's comment that he did what he was told, arose at 6:30, took mass transit to the mass, and dutifully stood in line for an interminable period confronts the fact that attendees had been arriving in exponentially increasing numbers from 3:30 in subfreezing temperature. Watching the program on TV, it was amazing to me that such an unprecedented mass of humanity for a single day of activities (given our obsessive demand for security and single passage through security screening) could be accommodated and operated so capably.

[Adam Green - Huffpost Blogger]

The lack of planning did not only affect 5,000 -- that's a very low-ball estimate, given before any information was learned. 5,000 people is the amount of people currently in the Facebook group about this subject, and I'm pretty sure 100% of the people who were affected are not in that group.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=61444130820&topic=9255#/group.php?gid=61444130820

Also highly relevant, the lack of planning affected those who got in after having their bodies meshed against metal gates, or who were cut in line and barely made it in. The big overall point is that while event planners were willing to judge success by the number of people on the mall, their metrics obviously did not include looking out for the public's use-experience.

Huffington Post staff put together an excellent composite of what happened in the purple line, after getting hundreds of first-hand accounts. You can read it (and weep) here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/purple-ticket-turmoil-wha_n_160150.html

[norcalgirl]

Yep. I was a silver ticket holder and made it in just before Biden was sworn in. Prior to, I had spent over three hours not moving more than a feet while being squished in a crowd. The last time I saw a real line was around 8am. By complete luck I was pushed to the side where people were being let out into the security check point. I was in the silver section when the barricade broke at Third and Jefferson. At the same time I ended up in the front of a very vocal mob trying to cross to the front silver section (since there weren't many people there before the barricade broke). It was honestly a few of the scariest moments of my life and what people saw on TV did not do the experience justice. We are fortunate no one was seriously hurt.

[Ticket holder]

Transcende­ntobserver I can echo Adam's comments. The 5,000 number is a total whitewash. The Washington Post printed a satelite photo of the event showing tens of thousands of ticket holders massed at the Purple, Blue and Silver gates at 11:20 in the morning, while there are large swaths of ground uncovered inside the Silver area (if not others). Additionally, there are hundreds of Americans saying they did not enounter any security personnel to insure their safety or provide instruction and organization to the crowd.
It is dumb luck that there were no major injuries and a testament to the people who kept a positive and patient demeanor throughout. If it were a problem created by a crowd, it wouldn't be an issue. The problem seems to derive from a lack of planning and execution by officials, however.
MOST importantly, the lack of ability to control and protect a crowd led to conditions in which our beloved President was not as protected as he should be - VAST numbers of people made their way into these areas without being screened by security, which were supposed to be secure areas for the President.