WASHINGTON: Security checkpoints have opened in downtown Washington as thousands of spectators wait in line for access to see President Barack Obama on inauguration day.
Spectators heading to Monday’s events are facing tight security. Screening lines in some places stretched a block.
The Secret Service, the lead law enforcement agency for the event, says there are so far no problems to report.
Officials are expecting for far smaller crowds than the record-breaking turnout of 2009. A spokesman for the Metro transit system says 113,000 riders had boarded trains as of 8 a.m. Officials also hope more and earlier signs, and additional metal detectors, will ease congestion.
A few dozen protesters were gathered along the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue invoking the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s legacy and urging jobs, not war.
