Official: Many reasons why ticketholders blocked

By: | Times-Dispatch
Published: January 21, 2009

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's chief law enforcement officer says authorities feel "very bad" that as many as 5,000 people with tickets to the inauguration were blocked from attending.

Many ticket holders complained Tuesday that despite arriving hours early, they were still turned away. Some said they were directed into the Third Street Tunnel and left there for hours with no guidance.

Senate Sergeant At Arms Terry Gainer tells WTOP-FM that a number of problems were to blame for not getting everyone screened in time, including a crowd surge at several gates that overwhelmed officials.

Gainer also says a broken power generator meant that some automatic screening machines didn't work, requiring security officers to hand-search many ticketholders.

Gainer says authorities will take a close look at what went wrong so similar problems can be avoided at the next inauguration.