Leo Shane III is tweeting from a bizarre scene on the Mall in Washington. Veterans from all over the country had come to the World War II Memorial to visit it. That memorial is normally unmanned, as it has no store or other amenities and needs no staff. But it had been barricaded. The veterans, some of whom surely stormed beaches to fight the Nazis or Imperial Japan in their youth, were not about to be stopped.

Honor flight vets just knocked over the barriers at the WWII memorial to get inside, #shutdown or no. pic.twitter.com/T4bx8kvFYj — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

Tons of applause as the WWII vets from Miss. storm their memorial. Park police on the way. #shutdown pic.twitter.com/31UGU7MRry — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

No sign of folks leaving. The vets have control of the memorial. #shutdown pic.twitter.com/eGj4kmFEiP — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

Politicians all over here now. — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

Credit where due — I watched Rep Steve King distract a park police officer while vets and staffers knocked down the fences here. #shutdown — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

Park Police stopped trying to block anyone from visiting the normally unmanned memorial.

Official word from Park Police on the WWII memorial: “We’re seeking guidance on how to respond.” No effort to block any vets. #shutdown — Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) October 1, 2013

Why did the Park Police believe that any response was needed? Who ordered those barricades to be put in place? At what cost? Why?

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