There was less of everything at the 2013 inauguration than in 2009 – spectators, protests, and police. The protests made up in diversity what they lacked in numbers.

A 1997 court ruling requires the National Park Service to permit some protest signs along the inaugural parade route. The NPS strategy was to allow a little bit of protest, in small, scattered spots along Pennsylvania Avenue, that wouldn’t cause too much disruption. The allocated space in 2013 was less than in the past three inaugurations, but so were the groups who wanted some place to raise their objections to the Obama administration’s policies.

The National Park Service issued five permits for “first amendment activity” for Monday, January 21. Three were for spaces on the parade route, where only those who got up very early in the morning could get to their assigned spots, and only those people in the parade, with bleacher tickets, or who were equally early risers, could see any protest signs. The Secret Service writes the rules, and among the prohibited items inside the security zone was “Supports for signs and placards.” This meant protestors had to hold up their signs in the cold if they want them to be seen.

ANSWER, which was the plaintiff in the 1997 court decision, got its usual spot on Freedom Plaza, but so many bleachers were on the Plaza facing Pennsylvania Avenue that there wasn’t much room for ANSWER to display its posters demanding “JOBS not WAR.” A few blocks down the street, the Westboro Baptist Church didn’t even have enough people to fill its few feet of permitted space. This is the group that HATES FAGS and promotes its views by picketing anything official, including military funerals. The third group was a pro-life entity that no one had heard of and which appears to have no presence on the internet.

Across the street from Freedom Plaza the DC government hosted its own protest, without having to get a permit. It built a booth in front of its executive office . . .

Read more: Protesting at the 2013 Inauguration