30,000 people in East Point, Georgia (an area of Atlanta) showed up Wednesday to pick up an application 'for a chance to receive a government-subsidized apartment', according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Washington Times provides narrative of the event:
EAST POINT, GA. — About 20 people were taken to area hospitals after pushing and shoving broke out Wednesday at a strip mall parking lot filled with thousands of people lined up for an application to get on a federal housing aid waiting list, authorities said.
By the time the East Point Housing Authority began handing out applications to apply for a voucher to get help paying rent, a crowd of 30,000 people — three times the number expected — had gathered. The line wrapped around the strip mall where the distribution was to take place, authorities said.
"It was chaotic," said longtime community activist Sharon Owens. "People were pushing and shoving, hollering and yelling."
Fire department Deputy Chief William Ware said 42 people were treated onsite, mostly for heat-related problems. None of the patients taken to the hospital was believed to be in critical condition, Ware said Wednesday afternoon.
Fire, police and emergency medical personnel had been on hand for several days, with cooling stations and medical triage centers to help people cope with temperatures that topped 90 degrees.
Police had "all hands on deck" to deal with the crowd but no arrests were made, said police Chief Leander Robinson, who said the situation was "probably as orderly as it could be," given the number of people.
Not to be deterred, they are lining up again this morning, and the Atlanta paper picks up the story for us:
East Point residents began lining up to turn in Section 8 housing applications before daybreak Thursday, a day after a crowd of 30,000 mobbed a shopping center to pick up the forms.
On Wednesday, 30,000 people suffered through hours in the hot sun, angry flare-ups in the crowd and lots of frustration and confusion for a chance to receive a government-subsidized apartment.
The massive event sometimes descended into a chaotic mob scene filled with anger and impatience. Some 62 people needed medical attention and 20 of them were transported to a hospital, authorities said. A baby went into a seizure in the heat and was stabilized at a hospital. People were removed on stretchers and when a throng of people who had been waiting hours in a line was told to move to another line, people started pushing, shoving and cursing, witnesses said.
Still, officials of East Point declared the day a success. Nobody was arrested and nobody was seriously injured, they said. It was an assessment roundly challenged by many of the people who had to go through it.
Ah, yes. The sweet smell of 'success'. Nothing quite like it.
Update, just in: Michelle sent greetings, saying she had meant to be there to help organize things, but something came up at the last minute.
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