U.S. Rep. David Price will help lead a hearing Wednesday on how thousands of visitors were kept out of the presidential inauguration ceremony in January despite holding tickets.

On the late morning of Jan. 20, people were caught outside ticketed areas as Barack Obama took the stage to be sworn in. Many were corralled inside the underground Third Street tunnel, crammed together with few police officers around, in what became known as the Purple Tunnel of Doom, named after the ticket colors. Many were stuck inside the tunnel for several hours without moving.

The chaos marred an otherwise calm day, and congressional offices were flooded with complaints, reports Barb Barrett.

A congressional report released last week found that crowds showed up at the Capitol before police did, that screening lines became ineffective in part because of non-ticketed guests, that there was confusion among law enforcement about the crowds and that more people than expected showed up to watch the ceremony from areas close to the Capitol.

More after the jump.

   Comments (14)