I read that ACORN took out a permit for that space to keep our side off it so that the crowd estimates would be skewed.
We were told to turn away at the capital because it was at capacity for the permit for the event and that there was no permit for the mall area for OUR event.
We did hear DC Police (very nice and respectful), say our March was backing up side streets onto the interstates coming into the city causing a real “mess” out there!!