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On 21 Jan 2017, the White House called a press conference where the press secretary accused the media of "deliberately false reporting" on two issues of which the number of people attending President Trump's inauguration was one. The use of additional fencing and magnetometers on the National Mall on the day of the inauguration was one of the pieces of evidence which the press secretary raised.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said:

This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.

Source: "Sean Spicer held a press conference. He didn’t take questions. Or tell the whole truth", Chris Cillizza, Washington Post, 21 Jan 2017

CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta says on Twitter that this is incorrect:

A USSS spokesperson tells us no magnetometers were used on the National Mall for Trump's inauguration.

Source: Jim Acosta, Twitter, 4:47 PM - 21 Jan 2017

Were additional fencing and magnetometers (or other types of metal detectors) used on the National Mall for Trump's inauguration, compared to past inaugurations?

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    Also see Michael Schmidt (New York Times): "According to two senior law enforcement officials, magnetometers WERE NOT USED in the areas Spicer said they were on the Mall." – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 10:38
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    And ABC: "The Secret Service says that this was the first time security fencing was installed around the National Mall for an inauguration. To get onto the Mall, people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints where their bags were checked, but there were no magnetometers used at those checkpoints." – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 10:39
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    Meanwhile, someone named Gay Patriot says he heard from a confirmation official "that there WERE magnetometers used at the Mall", and DC Dude heard from a "friend" who said he "went through magnetometers on the Mall" – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 10:46
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    Other person on twitter says: "I got onto the National Mall for the Inauguration without going through a magnetometer. Magnetometers were used for parade route access" – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 10:47
  • @ff524 I think there may be some confusion over whether a device which checks bags is/contains a magnetometer - as opposed to some other kind of metal detector or scanning device. – A E Jan 22 '17 at 10:51
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    This source agrees that magnetometers were used for entry to parade route. This Secret Service map shows parade route entry points. The parade route checkpoints are in almost exactly the same locations as in 2013 (one moved slightly farther away from the Mall). – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 11:01
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    In 2013, CBS reported that the area "from the Capitol to the White House" (which seems to describe the parade route) "is cordoned off -- accessible only through metal detectors at checkpoints." So basically, sounds like exactly the same arrangements as last time. (Seems like metal detectors were used for parade route in 2009, too.) – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 11:26
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    WaPo also says that for 2017, "security experts said police say they will do what they always have done for such events" including "multilevel perimeters established along the parade route and viewing areas at the Capitol Building, with metal detectors and bag checks." (but no mention of any metal detectors on the Mall) – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 11:29
  • @ff524 there were definitely magnetometers on the mall. Obama complained that there were too few in 2009, so they added more in 2013. http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/01/16/tight-security-protests-expected-at-inauguration It's only a question of whether the portion of the mall protected by magnetometers was any more or less this time. – DavePhD Jan 22 '17 at 16:45
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    Washington Post wrote 18 January 2017: "There will be multiple security checkpoints on the Capitol grounds around the Mall and the parade route on Inauguration Day. Downtown D.C. will transform into a security fortress, with 28,000 security officials over 100 square blocks. The security checkpoints, which everyone within the inauguration and parade perimeter will be required to go through, consist of metal detectors and bag checks. " https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/01/18/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-attending-the-inauguration/?utm_term=.f0daea3d72eb – DavePhD Jan 22 '17 at 16:47
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    @DavePhd I don't think it's saying that all security checkpoints will have metal detectors. There definitely were checkpoints without them. Other plans refer to multiple levels/security perimeters, with larger perimeter involving just bag check and smaller secure perimeter (like parade route and Capital viewing area) also having magnetometers. – ff524 Jan 22 '17 at 19:13
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    @ff524 I think the part of the mall from the Capitol to 4th street, where the ticket holders are, was the part where people needed to go through the metal detectors. http://www.inaugurationtickets.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/swearing_in_medium.gif "Security requires ticket holders to arrive at least a couple of hours early, carrying no seats, camera bags or other large bags. You will be required to enter through metal detectors" https://carter.house.gov/2017-inaguration-information/ – DavePhD Jan 22 '17 at 19:37
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    @DavePhD Yes, seems like it. Screening checkpoints for ticketholders were at same locations in 2017 and 2013, and reports suggest metal detectors were used at those access points in both 2013 and 2017. – ff524 Jan 23 '17 at 00:10
  • I think I heard on NPR before the event that magnetometers are to be used, but if I recall correctly, it was only for certain areas, not to get access to the lawn of the mall. I'll see if I can dig that up. – ventsyv Jan 23 '17 at 23:56

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@ff524 found the 2017 parade route, 2013 parade route, 2017 ticketed users, and 2013 ticketed users access points. The 2013 ticketed users screening location was in the same place as in 2017 and had magnetometers both years. @DavePhd found Congressman John Carter's inauguration page which says, "Security requires ticket holders to arrive at least a couple of hours early, carrying no seats, camera bags or other large bags. You will be required to enter through metal detectors". So Acosta's statement is simply incorrect. The portion of the Mall which was ticketed did have security screening.

The 2017 parade route shows that the National Mall had limited entry points in 2017. That does not answer the question of whether or not magnetometers were in use at those entry points in this year or 2013. Other sources suggest that they were not.

The actual parade route (not on the Mall) had essentially the same security screening in both 2013 and 2017. This does not affect the truthfulness of either statement though, as it had nothing to do with screening for the Mall.

@ff524 found an ABC News story which says

The Secret Service says that this was the first time security fencing was installed around the National Mall for an inauguration.

However, there are at least two factual inaccuracies elsewhere in their story, so take that with a grain of salt. If believed, this would confirm Spicer's assertion that there was more fencing in 2017 than 2013. However, the same story contradicts the assertion that there were more magnetometers. Unfortunately, it does so in a factually inaccurate way:

To get onto the Mall, people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints where their bags were checked, but there were no magnetometers used at those checkpoints.

But we already know that the ticketed portion of the Mall had magnetometers. The conflict may be as simple as a missing 'the non-ticketed portion of' the Mall. Or there may be a more serious problem with that story.

If we include the Washington Monument as part of the Mall, then the parade route PDF confirms the seven checkpoints to the non-ticketed portion of the Mall. Note that that does not include the eighth checkpoint for the ticketed portion of the Mall, which is shown in the ticketed users PDF.

If we believe the basic thrust of the ABC News story, Spicer was half right. There was more fencing but no more magnetometer locations.

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  • Also for completeness, you might want to mention that the access points for parade route (red circles on map) did reportedly have magnetometers in 2013 and 2017. – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 05:55
  • The ABC quote about "people were required to go through one of seven checkpoints" does seem to refer to the non-ticketed portion of the mall, as there are seven labeled "National Mall Access Points" in the official Secret Service map, for access to the non-ticketed portion of the mall. (If the Secret Service refers to them as "National Mall Access Points" in the map and other documents, it's easy to see how SS would say and/or press would hear that those access points were "to get onto the Mall".) So it doesn't seem like a more serious problem than that. – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 06:13
  • Just because the congressman's website said there would be metal detectors is not proof that there would be. I'm not saying who is right or wrong, just logically that doesn't seem to add anything to the answer. – corsiKa Jan 24 '17 at 19:10
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This student newspaper, The Miami Hurricane suggests there were metal detectors that slowed the crowd:

Some attributed the long wait to the slow security checks – full bag checks and only two metal detectors for thousands of people.

“I get there’s only two working machines and they want to be as safe as possible, but we are moving 10 feet an hour,” said Jacob Thomas, 47, from Tallahassee, Fla. “I would try my luck at another checkpoint, but I have already waited two hours.”

The entrance, manned by the Secret Service, Transport Security Administration and Military Police, also had a group of protesters causing an obstruction.

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    The question isn't whether there were metal detectors (it is clear that there were metal detectors at some checkpoints, such as those for parade route and for entry for ticketed users), but whether they were more "far back on the Mall" than they had been in previous inaugurations. – ff524 Jan 23 '17 at 23:55
  • @ff524: To be fair, Acosta denied even that. (I assume "magnetometer" = "metal-detector". This is a term I haven't heard before.) – Oddthinking Jan 24 '17 at 00:21
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    @Oddthinking Acosta denies that they were used "on the Mall". Security checkpoints for parade route and ticketed users don't look like they are "on the Mall". – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 00:23
  • @ff524 Your ticketed users PDF shows Silver Ticket Screening for the "Mall Standing Area" between 3rd and 4th. The screening may not have been "on the Mall", but it still restricted access to the Mall. Or at least part of it. – Brythan Jan 24 '17 at 03:06
  • @Brythan Certainly it could have restricted access; but as I mentioned above, the claim is about whether they were more "far back on the Mall" than they had been in previous inaugurations. That checkpoint was in the same location as in 2013. – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 03:14
  • @ff524 Also, your parade route PDF shows four more "National Mall Access Point" locations. They are the blue triangles. And regardless of whether the Silver Ticket Screening existed in 2013, your previous statement was that they weren't on the Mall at all. I.e. your previous statement was misleading, as was Acosta's. Access to the mall was restricted in 2017. It's possible that access was also restricted in 2013 (certainly you've established that the front area was restricted in 2013). But that already contradicts Acosta's implication that access to the Mall was not restricted. – Brythan Jan 24 '17 at 03:25
  • @Brythan Indeed, there were additional National Mall access points for non-ticketholders in 2017, but reports I've read suggest that access to the non-ticketed Mall area did not involve metal detectors. (You may want to read the comments on the question, I don't really feel like repeating it all here.) – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 03:30
  • @Brythan As far as I can tell, this question is about whether the specific claim Sean Spicer made its literally true. I haven't heard anyone claim that there were no restrictions on entering the Mall. I'm a pedant, I am interested in the specifics. (At this point, not even that interested in those, either, to be honest.) – ff524 Jan 24 '17 at 03:33