this week has been busy….during a chat with an AP reporter at yesterday’s US Conference of Mayors: “…may have something to do with a little big party on Thursday.”
I ended up doing some interviews at Arlington Cemetery….I had this strange idea that I would be finished by six and I could meet Mark at the Press Club to workout.
I started getting some weird text messages on my mobile….Steph said something like “…you must have a good view of the standoff from there.” Then I heard from Mark, who managed to sneak into downtown, via car, early. He went to get some coffee….”I’m at *$ (starbuck’s) with some Secret Service people.”
Since I was out at the cemetery….I had no idea what was going on. A block away from our newsroom…a Michigan man drove his van as close to the White House as possible…
Then we took Metro back to the newsroom….my professor said, “Isn’t it great to be in the middle of all this news?”
I was still clueless….
Then I saw the images of the red van and the SWAT teams….I recognized the gate. I was there yesterday filming b-roll of the empty stands and inaugural construction for my story. I asked my professor if she needed me to shoot some b-roll of the stand-off…she said all the other news crews were making a circus out of it….typical for the inaguration week.
Crazy. I ended up staying late in the newsroom – working on my other story and editing. Thankfully, Mark stayed with me in the newsroom. It would have felt kinda freaky being by myself and being a block away from a potential disaster.
The SWAT teams and Secret Service didn’t get trigger-happy.
The dude gave himself up after four hours. Apparently it was a family tiff.
Crazy.