FC: More pre-inauguration security photos; protesters organize via web

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

On Thursday, I walked from the Capitol building to the White House via 
Pennsylvania Avenue and took some shots of the inaugural parade preparations:
http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/2001-bush-inauguration-setup-pa-ave.html

Note the high security and planned police checkpoints:
http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-5/pennsylvania-ave-setup-park.html
http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-5/pennsylvania-ave-setup-fbi.html

Bleachers cleverly blocking Freedom Plaza, where protesters will be, from 
parade route:
http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-5/pennsylvania-ave-setup-fbi.html

When I was standing on a sidewalk in front of the federal courthouse on 
Pennsylvania Ave (of Monicagate and Microsoft trial fame), a deputy U.S. 
Marshal told me I could not take a photo of the courthouse. It was a 
wide-angle shot of the front, and no people or security preparations 
appared to be visible. Here's him walking back to his van, which appears to 
have -- from another photo -- U.S. Government plate 60163:
http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-5/pennsylvania-ave-setup-fbi.html

I covered the Microsoft trial in that courthouse, took photos of the 
exterior, and never had any problems from the marshals. Here's a photo I 
took from that same sidewalk last year when the atmosphere was much less tense:
http://www.mccullagh.org/image/9/mike-pettit.html

Photos from earlier in the week:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-01636.html

-Declan

*********
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41317,00.html

   DC: It's Now a GOP-Com World
   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)

   2:00 a.m. Jan. 20, 2001 PST
   WASHINGTON -- As Republican loyalists converge on the nation's capital
   this weekend for black-tie celebrations, anti-GOP activists are
   planning protests.

   The most complete website is inaugurauction.org, which includes press
   releases with protest details. The folks at the Independent Media
   Center, veterans of both Republican and Democratic conventions last
   year, are planning their usual exhaustive, if not exactly unbiased,
   coverage.

   There's even a protest-ball on Saturday evening ($10) -- a gown or
   tuxedo is definitely optional.

   But protesters lost a lawsuit challenging the police checkpoints that,
   for the first time, will block access to Pennsylvania Avenue.

   [...] 




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