http://deathbymedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/912-washington-dc-tea-party-rally-crowd-estimation/

It’s backed by evidence (pictures and clips) and determining the boundaries of the protesters and calculation of final tally derived from the density of the crowd at each given block. My calculus puts the figures around 130k up to 160k.

After the rally I walked across the mall past the Washington Monument and the WWII monument to visit some friend on the Vietnam War Memorial. There was a bus full of WWII veterans in wheelchairs that had been to the rally — some still had their protest signs duct-taped to their wheelchairs. They had been to visit “their” memorial and then went to the Vietname memorial to view the wall and spend some time just chatting in the part there. I ended up finishing the day with these guys, mostly listening to their rememberances and chatting with them about current events.

A fantastic way to end such a great day. Being with those guy, within site of my friends on the wall, reminded me of exactly what we’re fighting for. We can’t let those guys down.

Wilson

Your facts & observations, & the manner in which your verbiage conveys them, simply puts State Run Media journos to shame.

Great read.

What blows my mind is that this was a loose, word-of-mouth event. I say this because of the following; the PA system was severely underpowered (showing that the organizers did not expect this crowd), there was a huge lack of vendors that could have made tons of cash and the signs were (with exception of a few) handmade. Most of the day, my friends and I had no idea of who actually organized the rally, who the speakers were going to be or what the schedule was. We simply woke up at 2am, jumped into the car and drove the 5hrs to DC to help deliver a message to the government.

Besides the normal protesting towards the blatant disregard of the Constitution and the policies coming out of this administration and Congress, it was what I didn’t see that added volumes to the overall experience. There was no violence, no damage to property, no arrests, and the people in attendance cleaned up after-themselves. The RESPONSIBLE people who attended this event are the true citizens of this country and have proved themselves, yet again, before anyone’s eyes who wish to look.

One conclusion that I came to while at the rally was that I am sure there was a call to place more police on duty around 8am when the flood of people started to gather. When I arrived I only saw only a few officers at the staging area, by the time the march started I saw a tons of officers on duty. The march was supposed to, as I was later told, organize into groups from the different states and each state was to march individually to the Capital Building in parade-like fashion. There were so many people that the organization was impossible, so much so, that the march that was to start at 11am had to start early (around 10:40am) because the side streets couldn’t hold anymore people without the police having to shut down access to more streets. We had caused grid-lock in the city.

The police officers were professional. When they first came on scene they were, of course, expecting trouble and had their game faces on. They were ready for anything and, I believe, expected the worst. When people started walking up to thank them for doing their job of keepin the public safe, I saw their game face soften. The police were ever vigilant but took the time to talk with anyone about anything without the normal quick answer and “move on” attitude that normally occurs when the responsibility of others falls on one’s shoulders. I saw officers smiling and shaking people’s hands instead of having the need to put those hands in cuffs. The only sirens that wailed were from ambulances that were called to help the elderly attendants that did not deal well with the trek to the Capitol Building or the physical requirements to stand upright for hours.

I saw retired military men, far into the autumn of their lives, marching. It asounded me. They served their country and lead by example. They should be home enjoying themselves, watching their grandchildren or relaxing on a porch swing instead of having to be at a march to, again, defend the Constitution and preserve our freedom. As frail as some were, they still felt and heeded the call to serve their fellow countrymen in vigilant defense against the assault on the Constitution. I applaud them.

It was an astounding event. Something that I will, personally, never forget. I am ready to go again and only require the date to be there. I just hope for the next rally, the permit is obtained to legally use the all of the mall and that an A/V company is called in to place speakers and video throughout the event. I have a feeling next time will have more sponsers, more vendors (I love Capitalism), more high-profile, conservative speakers … and … even more attendees.

FreedomWorks Rally – C-SPAN Video Library

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/288868-1

2 hours, 51 minutes