WASHINGTON (PNN) - October 1, 2013 - Busloads of World War II veterans, many in wheelchairs, broke past a barricade Tuesday morning to cross into the World War II Memorial, as onlookers applauded and a man playing the bagpipes led the way.
Moments earlier, a few Republican members of Congress had removed a section of the black gates that surrounded the site, allowing a line of veterans to roll past security officers, who willingly stood aside.
The National Park Service closed all of its parks, including national memorials, as a result of the federal government shutdown that went into effect at 12:01 a.m ET.
But a spokeswoman from the National Mall and Parks Service said efforts were no longer being made to hold anyone back.
A few House Republicans were also at the memorial to disparage the government for closing off the landmark on a day that veterans were set to arrive.
Rep. Steven Palazzo (Miss.), one of the congressmen who helped move the gates, argued the decision to close the memorial may have been more of a political ploy than a bureaucratic oversight. He said it makes no sense to close an open-air monument and compared it to prohibiting someone from touching a tree.
Rep. Steve King (Iowa) referred to the gating off of the memorial as "a completely spiteful act," by (illegitimate dictator) President (Barack) Obama, comparing it to the White House canceling school tours in the aftermath of the automatic budget cuts of the sequester. "Perhaps the most bitter, spiteful act ever committed by a Commander in Chief."
When asked why Obama would personally order the memorial closed off, King said he couldn't get into the illegitimate president's head. But "the secretary of the Interior is not going to make such a spiteful decision," he said. "This has to be a White House decision."