U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in 2009. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Frustrated March on Washington anniversary attendees, you have an ally: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has sent a letter to Secret Service director Julia Pierson to express her “outrage” at the long line people were subjected to at the public security checkpoint at yesterday’s “Let Freedom Ring” event.

From the letter:

Along with thousands of others, I am outraged by the massive failure to organize, prepare and coordinate to receive visitors at yesterday’s 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. The congestion at the security check point at the general public entrance to the event caused huge lines and wait times, which left visitors, many of them elderly, frustrated and even ill and overcome by the heat and rain. It is inexcusable that people had to wait on their feet for long hours in such hot and humid conditions, that a number of people fainted, that the D.C. Fire and EMS Department had to give medical assistance to over 100 people, and that some had to be hospitalized. As a result of your poor planning and execution, many were unable to attend and participate in the event altogether.

As was chronicled by several outlets, the line at Wednesday’s March on Washington event prevented many people from getting near the Lincoln Memorial to hear speakers, including President Obama and Oprah. From the New Republic:

Police officers, DDOT officers, and secret service officers field questions. Most of their answers sound the same: Yes, you have to wait in the line. There’s no way around it. Almost all the officers are black—a definitive change from 50 years ago.

A young woman in a shiny blue dress follows an officer with a bicycle out of the line. He assures her that there’s free medical care at 17th street if she needs it. “You didn’t actually black out, did you?” her friend asks. She did.
…
Someone tries to cut the line. Some people say nothing. One woman stops the line-jumper. She looks bashful, but not too much, and she stops advancing through the crowd.

A meeting has not yet been scheduled, as the letter was just sent today, according to Norton’s office.