Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Sep 1, (THAINDIAN NEWS) It seems that there is no end to the controversies surrounding Glenn Beck’s claimed apolitical rally “Restoring Honor” that was organized during the weekend at the Lincoln Memorial. While before the commencement of the rally it was the criticisms made by civil rights groups on the rally’s apolitical tag that made it to the headlines; after the event, it is the estimated crowd at the rally which has led to controversy. While a reputed media source came up with reports that the rally, which had a permission for an assemblage of around 300,000 people, was actually attended by around 87,000 people plus minus 9 thousand, Glenn Beck had come up with claims that around 500,000 people turned up for the event.

A reputed media source which covered the “Restoring Honor” rally live on Saturday claimed that it had commissioned a well known agency to estimate how many people had turned up for the event. The company reportedly put to use a surveillance aerostat balloon to take pictures of the event from both above and close to the ground. It estimated thereafter that the rally was attended by around 87,000 people, plus or minus 9,000 people. The media covering the event claimed that it was the only scientific calculation of the crowd that was made on Saturday.

However, the estimate did not please the conservative bloggers who questioned the authenticity of the estimate. Glenn Beck himself suggested that the rally was attended by around 500,000 people. He maintained that the media can “diminish the crowd side all they want, but the image speak for themselves”.