Published on Wednesday, January 10, 2001 in the Washington Post

Security High for Inaugural Parade

Crowd Checkpoints Unprecedented; Searches Possible

by David Montgomery and Karlyn Barker Everyone who wants to cheer, protest or simply see the new president on the inaugural parade route Jan. 20 will have to pass through police checkpoints to get to America's Main Street, an unprecedented security measure being taken because so many "disgruntled" demonstrators are expected, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

All bags will be subject to search by D.C. police officers or Secret Service agents, but metal detectors will not be used, and inaugural planners hope crowds that could number in the hundreds of thousands will move through without backups. Six of 16 checkpoints will be only for those holding tickets to the White House reviewing area.

Officers will not allow signs supported by large poles that could be used as weapons. And the stilt-walkers promised by one group of protest organizers will be banned, because stilts could be used as clubs. The giant puppets used in demonstrations across the country may also be turned away, though police said they were still negotiating that point.

On a day when protest organizers were scrambling to learn what their groups will be allowed to do, they got a partial answer on where they will be allowed to do it: The National Park Service confirmed that one group that was involved in demonstrations against the World Bank in April has permits to assemble at choice locations including Freedom Plaza, the sidewalk at the Justice Department and McPherson Square.

"As George Bush goes up Pennsylvania Avenue, he's going to be met by demonstrators throughout the inaugural parade," said Brian Becker, co-director of the International Action Center. He said the demonstrators would chant and wave signs but would not commit acts of civil disobedience this time.

Meanwhile, the non-protesting, non-VIP public remained largely in the dark yesterday about the availability of tickets for admission to parade bleachers or inaugural balls, although the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced some of the celebrities who will participate in the festivities, including Wayne Newton, Van Morrison and Muhammad Ali.

Security remained the chief concern for a patchwork of federal and local police agencies implementing the first screened-access inaugural parade in U.S. history.

"There is intelligence information that a lot of people are disgruntled and a lot of demonstrators are coming," said Michael Radzilowski, commander of the D.C. police special operations division. "Because the number of demonstrators is going to be large, we are trying to err on the side of everybody's safety."

But Radzilowski, who said he was recently treated to a pleasant dinner at Lauriol Plaza by protest organizers, whom he intends to pay back at a future dinner to discuss their plans, added: "They say they are going to be peaceful and orderly. . . . I've got to give the demonstrators I've been talking to high praise and high compliments in trying to to work with us." He said police still must "prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

Groups intending to demonstrate at the inauguration run the gamut from the National Organization for Women and the antiabortion Christian Defense Coalition to civil rights activists led by New York's Al Sharpton and former D.C. delegate Walter Fauntroy. A group called Voter March is appealing to thousands hoping to reform the election system.

The faction that Radzilowski sat down to dinner with is organized by the Justice Action Movement and includes many who protested against the World Bank.

No one has estimated the size of the total protest crowd, but with passions heightened by the bitterly close election, organizers predict the largest demonstrations since Richard M. Nixon's second inauguration in 1973, when police said 25,000 to 100,000 protested.

Others will be out to counter the counter-inauguration demonstrators. Conservative activists are planning a Patriot's March on D.C., with a rally in front of the Supreme Court.

Some protest organizers said the security precautions are part of a police campaign to "demonize" their peaceful intentions, and they charged that the checkpoints would choke off access.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer with the Partnership for Civil Justice who is representing some of the demonstrators, said, "It's going to cause a bottleneck. People are entitled . . . to get there in a timely fashion to organize and set up."

Radzilowski said planners considered that problem: "The way we have it designed, if you're not carrying anything, come on in, the quicker the better."

But if anybody is carrying a sign -- whether it says "Hail to the Chief" or "Hail to the Thief" -- it must be hand-held or on wooden stakes no larger than three-quarters of an inch square. That measurement is a Park Service standard for signs in front of the White House that D.C. police will adopt for this event, Radzilowski said.

"We are not policing their message," Radzilowski said. "We are looking at any type of weapons that can be used against us or the crowd." He also said the demonstrators themselves may need protection. "We don't want pro-Bush crowds taking sticks out of their backpacks and hitting the demonstrators upside the head," he said. "The last thing we want is 50 pro-Bush guys jumping one of these poor demonstrators."

For those more in the mood to celebrate, letters inviting GOP loyalists to buy tickets for the inaugural balls and bleacher seating at the parade went out late last month. The letters included a form listing all the events and a telephone number where tickets could be ordered. Recipients were offered a chance to order tickets for the limited seating available at such free events as the Jan. 18 opening ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial and the Jan. 19 salutes to American authors, veterans and youth.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee, which oversees the inauguration and has promised an "inclusive" celebration, has not said how many invitations it mailed to Republicans and campaign contributors or how many tickets might be available to the general public. It has set up a hot line (202-484-1771) where people can obtain fax numbers so that they can apply for tickets.

It was unclear yesterday how many people have faxed such requests or whether tickets are still available. Despite repeated requests, the inaugural committee's office has not provided such information and did not return telephone calls yesterday seeking these and other ticket specifics.

The committee yesterday did release information about celebrity participation. The confirmed lineup, most of whom are expected to be involved in the Lincoln Memorial program, includes singer Nell Carter, actors Kelsey Grammer and Bo Derek, Olympians Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones, comedian Norm Macdonald and British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In addition, inaugural organizers say the president-elect has selected the Rev. Billy Graham to give the opening prayer at the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol.

The committee also announced which states will be at what ball venues. The D.C., Maryland and Virginia events will be at the D.C. Armory.

-- Welcome Your New Police State (thanks@'publicans!.com), January 10, 2001

Answers

Have you been sending scatological threats to Dubya again?

-- (nemesis@awol.com), January 10, 2001.

Seem to remember it was the clintoons who closed off Pennsylvania Avenue, and it's still closed.

-- mbo (rfp@mail.com), January 10, 2001.

Wasn't that to protect against car-bombs, not protestors?

-- The Toner (the.toner@home.com), January 10, 2001.