It was more than tens of thousands yesterday in Washington D.C. for the 9/12 Project Tea Party march and rally.
Joe from Milwaukee Wisconsin, Sarah from Grand Rapids Michigan, John from Austin Texas, Jan and Michael from Syracuse New York State, the McCafferty family from Palm Beach Florida and hundreds of thousands of people from all over America had one thing in common on Saturday 9/12; they came to their nation’s capital to peacefully protest the direction the nation is taking.
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People gathered in
Freedom Plaza near the White House to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol grounds. The march had been originally been scheduled to start around 11 am but got under way hours early due to the sheer number of people flooding out of buses and metro stations all over D.C.
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The mood, despite the protest topics of out of control government spending; health care ‘reform’, loss of freedom and liberty, lower taxes, smaller government and the First, Second and Tenth Amendments was upbeat and cheerful. Complete strangers struck up conversations sparked by remarking on each other’s homemade signs and t-shirts or a simple ‘where are you from?’ Those people who were crammed into the Metro (if they could get on complete a train after purchasing their Metro Day Pass complete with a photo celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama back in January) were simply forced to get to know the people less than inches from them. They all had one thing in common; a message to deliver in person to the government to ‘Listen’, to tell Congress they ‘will not be ignored’ and that they ‘have had enough’.
Crowd estimates vary as they always do. The media are generally reporting there were tens of thousands, mostly from AP wire reports. This is inaccurate as there were hundreds of thousands in central D.C. as those who attended can attest. Interestingly, officials including the Park Police have declined to give an estimate.
Read next page...
Read Part Two: 'We The People'
Read Part Three: Who are the Protestors?
Read Part Four: Media Coverage
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Comments
Show us the picture of all these people then.
I'm so proud of my fellow Americans! God Bless you!
The people who marched on Washington D.C. ( are great Americans )
My problem is that we all agree we should cut taxes and shrink government until it hits our program!
www.examiner.com/x-19977-Allentown-Fiscal-Responsibility-Examiner~y2009m9d13-Cut-government-spending-but-dont-touch-MY-program
I drove up there in a caravan from Hampton Roads to the Springfield-Franconia Metro for the ride into Federal Triangle--the kick off point for the march. The crowds were so large it took over an hour to purchase the Metro tickets from the vending machine. I got there at 11 only to find that the parade had to start hours earlier than scheduled because there was no space for the people who were already there. It was clear that the numbers exceeded all expectations because the lines at the Porta Poties were also well over an hour. Nice crowd. wonderful signs. Hopefully, someone will put together a slideshow of at least about 500 of them. Sharp, clever, original, and insightful--even if the vast majority were clearly made at the kitchen table over several evenings! Congress better wake up!
Why is the eXaminer so intent in continually lying about the numbers? Or are you simply dense: "According to the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, tens of thousands filled several blocks near the U.S. capitol as a part of the March on Washington." Sounds a little more 'official' than event organizers claiming ABC estimated over 1.5 million--ABC claims it never happened) or to articles in the eXaminer claiming that crowd estimates that don't support their hyperbolic assertions are lefty plots, or linking to their own articles as 'sources.' Give it a break. The eXaminer is 1) an embarrassment to itself and 2) a fine eXample of self-parody.
I had goosebumps the moment we got out of Metro Center station at 9:15. The sound coming from Freedom Plaza was the most amazing thing I've ever heard. That is, until we were on the lawn of the Capitol and could hear the cheers coming from the many blocks down PA Ave. It was the most awesome thing I've ever been a part of.
And no way was it merely "tens of thousands". Closer to 1 mil. Check out the time-lapse video at rhetorican dot com (posted on 9/12-- you will need to go to a previous page or two. The post is titled "Time Lapse Aerial Video of 9/12 Protestors")
I certainly don't know how many people attended, but MSNBC had their own people there who estimated the attendance in the "hundreds of thousands." And for the left-leaning MSNBC to say this tells me there were at least 200,000 people there. Whatever the number, it was a HUGE crowd and I'm proud of all the freedom fighters who spent their hard-earned money and time to fight for a very worthy cause. There's still hope that we can take our country back before Obama and the Dems destroy it for generations.
How can you possibly conclude that tere were hundreds of thousands of people? You have to verge on the idiotic to believe that is was any more than 60000 or so. Either that or you are NOT at all familiar with D.C. Did you see how inauguration crippled the Metro or the city even?
I was there. It was a great feeling. There had to have been about a million plus people there. There are pictures posted all over You Tube. God Bless. Thank you to everyone that supports there country.
Thanks, Amy, for proving my point.
Again - On inauguration day (actually had a million plus people attend) the Metro was crippled. Trains were running every two minutes and they were still full - and only half the people actually took Metro.
I took the Metro to Union Station on Saturday and it felt like a busy rush hour... and trains were running every twelve minutes. Have you ever been to a city?
So Max says there were 60,000 people. Why Max? Because that's what you want to believe maybe?
I was kind of interested in your article until I read this:
'Interestingly, officials including the Park Police have declined to give an estimate.'
If you really cared about the truth you would have reported that Park Police stopped giving crowd estimates years ago because whatever number they put out was routinely criticized by rally organizers who wanted larger numbers.
How insulting to imply someone has never been to a city anf therefore has no idea what a crowd looks like.
I lived in the shadow of Chicago's John Hancock for 20 years. Those pictures from 9/12 bore a startinly resemblance to the images of Grant Park during the fourth of July fireworks and Lincoln Park during rhe Air and Water show. The crowd estimates for those events are routinely in the area of 700,000 to a million plus people.
The National Park Service stated the number was in excess of one million, and the police have acknowledged that busses were turned away around Noon because the demonstration permit was not granted for anywhere near that many people. Any person who truly believes that just a mere few thousand people attended is delusional. I can assure you that the State of GA alone sent many many thousands because the busses were chartered and FULL.
And, if this crowd of "just a few thousand" represents all of the Tea Party/Town Hall folks, then please do explain why Van Jones had to resign? Was it all the liberal pressure? That's laughable. Further, why do you not have your healthcare bill? You have the votes. You own the Congress! Barack was elected with the promise he would make it happen, so why is it taking so long? It is taking so long because the numbers are in fact WAY beyond a few thousand...and you all know it.
Max - by late morning, 495 was gridlocked - people trying to get into the city for the March. Later that day I heard a guy (not with the march) say it took him HOURS to get into the city. Look at usatoday dot com/news/washington/2009-01-19-crowd_N dot html This overlay shows how to estimate how many people were there. I was THERE - people back to Washington Monument AND all the way down Penn. Ave. Both sides of WH lawn where I was, were FULL. I've seen pictures of people crammed into metro cars - NOT rush hour-type crowds like you say. People who had been at the inauguration too said there were NOT as many people then as there were Saturday. Most people got there early. The march was supposed to start at 10:30, but b/c of the # of people, the march started early to accomodate Freedom Plaza, which was packed. Maybe you missed the actual "rush hour".
We will NOT be marginalized!
I tried posting a picture of a million people in Washington DC. It didn't work.
495 was crowded? Oh my god that's never happened! Welcome to your nation's capital! Have you ever been here before leaving your hamlet? DC has the second worst traffic in the country and you can find crowded highways here at 3 AM on a Wednesday. I live two miles from DC and if I drive it can take me an hour even if there's no event.
I'm not saying you didn't have a lot of people. Congratulations for having a big rally. Just stop making up a bunch of lies about your crowd because you sound even more stupid.
By the way, can you guys come back? You left a nasty mess and our publicly-funded sanitation workers don't make enough money to clean your mess. We'll even let you ride our socialist Metro system again and let you pee in the taxpayer-funded museums!
I am 58 years old. I was raised in a suburb of Chicago. I have been to Grant Park many times and at best it may hold 125000 people. On the 4th of July it is estimated that maybe 1 million people pass through grant park for a whole weekend. The Jazz Fest that kicks off the Taste of Chicago is a 4 day event which estimates maybe one and one half million for the 4 days. As to the picture above you will note that the camera is slightly elevated. A photography trick to show greater numbers. A better picture would have been from the top of the Dome panning away.
The 2006 Taste of Chicago was the best 10-day event ever for attendance and sales. A record total of 3.6 million people visited the festivities that year. Attendance for the previous record 10-day event, in 2004, was 3.59 million, with $12.33 million in revenue.[1]
google " the taste of chicago number of attendees ".
For comparison, look at photos of college football stadiums. SEC games average about 75 - 100 thousand per game. Remember, the one photo down PA avenue does not show side streets, or what is in the other direction. I think 1 million is conservative estimate, 2 million is probably excessive. The metro police estimate 1.2 - 1.5 million, which is probably fairly close.
Jesus Christ you guys are morons.
Max, why the anger? Are you starting to worry? What difference does it make to you whether there were 10k or 1.5 million people there? Me thinks thou dost protest too much...I think Max is very representative of the elitist left in this country who look down on anyone he disagrees with. Why be so insulting? "...have you ever been to a city before...?" "...have you ever been out of your hamlet...?" Jeez, so sorry the "great unwashed" are making you uncomfortable. That sound you hear? Oh, the would be "We the People..." Cheers!!
I wonder of those claiming the large number of attendees by pointing to photos and recollection of the mall occupied "all the way to the Washington Monument" are aware that there was another large nationwide event taking place on the western end of the mall this weekend (the annual Black Family Reunion celebration) and anyone in the vicinity of the Washington monument was attending or had wandered into that event.
Yes, there were a lot of people on the mall, but they weren't all there for the same thing!
I was @ the protest on 9/12 in washington, and yes I was aware of the other events. But the protesters greatly out numbered the other events. Their were at least 1.5 million people protesting! It makes me sick and has opened my eyes how many people are walking around sleeping with their eyes open. WAKE UP STUPID! YOUR BEING RAPED! Get past all this racest BS, and what party it is, We're tired of laying down and taking it, we tryed it their way, now we're doing it our way. And I hope ur on the right side when all out war breaks out.
"she calls to the crowd along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?-- I called you so often, but you wouldn't come, I reached out to you, but you paid no attention,-- So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you--when they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they a
The protest only stretched 3-5 blocks on the mall from the photographs, eyewitness accounts, and police reports. Anyone even remotely familiar with DC knows that is the tens of thousands of people at most. You have to pack the entire mall with people (which runs for 20-30 blocks) to get anywhere close to a million. While it might seem like millions of people when you are in the middle, and can't see where it starts or stops, it isn't. Just because it feels like a million people doesn't mean it is. You should leave the crowd estimating to the people that do it daily. They say there were 60,000-70,000 there. In the scheme of gatherings on the mall, that happens daily.
The participants were there, probably traveled from the upper class suburbs. Most of them likely hadn't been to a city in decades. Seeing people packed into trains is a daily occurrence for those people that live in cities. I've seen more crowded trains at 3pm on a weekday in DC.
I lived in DC near the mall a few years ago, and protest, activities, and gatherings are a daily occurrence. Oftentimes, there are 2-3 gatherings in different areas of the mall. There were NO WHERE CLOSE to even 100,000 people at this event. A TINY percentage (.005%) of people that live within driving distance to DC. These FRINGE groups that attended do not represent even a small minority of the American people.
Instead of just protesting change and being negative, they should come up with their own proposal to reform healthcare and lets look at them side by side. I'm sure I know which one the American people would choose.
I was there, I was a volunteer and interacted with the police. I was stationed at the back of Freedom Plaza. My husband and I conservatively would say 500,000 + of what WE saw ourselves...probably more. Yes, the police told us, marked volunteers that they shut down the interstate and turned 40 buses away.
I don't care what anyone says- I WAS there- where you?! I know what I saw.
Today.is.Monday.after.the.rally......the.US.Park.service.finally.fessed.up.and.told.the.truth.today.or.last.night......they.said.the.9/12.rally.was.the.largest.rally.in.DC.population.wise.EVER...that.includes.MLK's.March..so.take.the.largest.march.ever.with.quoted.numbers.and.the.9/12.rally.was.bigger.than.that.protests......Great.Job.Fellow.Patriots......next.time.we'll.encircle.the.Capitol.we'll.have.twice.as.many.folks....maybe.even.pay.those.folks.a.visit.......I.was.also.impressed.at.how.well.mannered.the.group.was....everyone.got.their.say....and.there.was.NO.violence....
Park.Service.Admits.9/12.Rally.Largest.Rally.in.DC.History...
Google.it!!!
I was at Freedom Plaza At 8:30AM and there was already 40,000 or so there, packed and growing, and the march was to start at 11:30AM. The police forced the start at 10:45 as the staging area expanded by 4 blocks. I am guessing 70-80,000 marched. At the Capital, someone announced attendance at 1:30 as being over a million. I don't know the official number but it seemed all of that with people still coming. Most of those people were already there before we in the march got there. It was packed from Ave.C to the Capital steps.
Having been in a standing room only Ohio Stadium, tens of thousands isn't even close. There was 25,000 from Ohio alone. At a rest area in Pa. we ran into a bus from northern Pa. and one of their contingent told us the city of Pittsburgh alone had 20 buses. That's over 1000 people. The contingent from Ohio, Pa. Mich. and Texas, equaled the marching numbers alone. Anyone like BLUEPRINTGUY wasn't there and doesn't want to accept the truth.
know what's really sad about all these comments.....you are so concerned with numbers...in addition to DC there were gatherings in all 50 states at the same time for the same reason....People are waking up....and I've said to many of my liberal friends including my husband...who think this administration is something great....BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but this "Dan Bana" who all the blogs are quoting as saying the 9.12 event is the biggest in history is most likely the "David Barna" who works for the park service and was quoted as saying the OBAMA INAUGURATION was the biggest event ever held in DC. Someone is playing a joke on you.
Park service changes course, plans to offer crowd estimate.1.5 million is first geuess. ADD A www. to this as It wount let me post a url usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-01-19-crowd_N.htm
Then USA TODAY changed their minds and wrote an article that disputed the PARK SERVICE:
ALSO ADD A WWW TO THIS LINK usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-11-tax-rally_N.htm
Guess they lost their nerve.
What really matters is that average people are waking up. It's not just the freedom fighters trying to convince people anymore that there are MAJOR things wrong here. They see and they are getting involved. The communists can crawl back under a rock for another 100 years.
Oh my. the reason I posted about other events on the mall is that I attended one of them.
I have lived in DC for 11 years and attended many events on the mall. I was on the mall on Saturday. I understand that it was a lot of people, but it was not 1 million, not even close. I was there for the inaugurations of both Bush and Obama and they both had more people than this rally. I believe the estimate for Bush's second inaugural was 500,000 and the mall and surrounds were far more crowded than this past weekend.
I was also there and the number of people there was announced around 2:45 at about 1.5 million
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