How Many People Were At The 9/12 DC Protests?

I think ABC is fumbling to deliberately down grade the numbers. At least that's how it smells to me:

At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as "tens of thousands."

So let's examine this. The picture above is a shot of the Capitol Mall, courtesy of Michelle Malkin. Take another look at it.

And here's another shot:



As you can see from both shots, not only is the mall full, but there's significant overflow.

Now Tabitha Hale, who was there says Parks & Rec estimated the crowd at 1.2 million.

Robert Stacy McCain, who was also there says (in comments) that "Before noon, the number of paraders who had passed 11th & Pennsylvania was METERED at 450,000. Add in late arrivals -- easily an equal number -- and I'd say 1 million was a minimum. "

And then, we have this helpful item from the DC Parks service which estimated prior to Obama's inauguration that at five square feet per person, average density, the mall could contain 1.5 million people. And given the overflow, this doesn't look like 'average density' to me.

I'd say that the median figure of 1.2 to 1.5 million( which agrees with the DC police estimate) is probably pretty spot on - and that doesn't count the protests on the same day that took place around the country.

I think ABC got a call from the White House to downplay this.

I'm fine with that, actually. It erodes ABC's credibility, and tells me that both the dinosaur media and Obama continue to treat Obama's opposition as a 'fringe element' barely worth bothering about.

That kind of elitist contempt is quite useful. It's helpful when your opposition underestimates you.