They ran past K and I streets to Lafayette Park cheering for President Obama while drivers honked their horns encouraging them. It only got louder at their final destination: the front gates of the White House.
People were climbing trees and cheering “Obama,” “USA” and some sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” The crowd applauded the tree climbers who unfurled a printed banner that read, “Sandy Demands Climate Change Now.”
The homemade “Judge Judy 2016” sign received quite a bit of attention and snickers while iPhones and TV cameras captured the revelers in full voice.
There was the distinctive smell of marijuana in a few pockets, but very few beverages in people’s hands. The crowd stretched the entire length of the White House residence and the width of Pennsylvania Avenue touching the beginning of constrution of the Inaugural bleachers.
No policeman could be seen in the first hour, and only one uniformed Secret Service agent was visible on the park side.