A Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River caused a panic Friday morning after CNN broadcast the details without first checking to see whether the scenario was real.
The media reports that shots had been fired on the Potomac sent law enforcement and federal agencies scrambling. The Federal Aviation Administration briefly shut down flights at Reagan National Airport, the FBI sent agents to the river, as did District police.
The confusion started when CNN first reported that shots had been fired by the Coast Guard at a suspect vessel between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges, not far from the Pentagon where President Barack Obama and hundreds of others were gathered to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The training started at 9:30 a.m. and ended a little after 10 a.m., the Coast Guard said. Obama left the Pentagon during that period, press reports confirm.
The president’s spokesman Robert Gibbs blasted the cable news outlet in an interview with Politico, saying “My only caution would be that before we report things like this, checking would be good.”
At a news conference, Coast Guard Chief of Staff Vice Adm. John Currier said the training was one of four routine exercises that happen weekly. During those exercises, he said, the Coast Guard uses an open radio channel that can be heard by the public on scanners. It is protocol to say shots have been fired during training.
When asked whether he thought the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was the best time to conduct training in a region victimized by dive bombing airliners, Currier said, “I don’t think the commander saw any reason not to train today.”
The decision, he said, was made by command staff in Baltimore.
Much of the uncertainty was caused by the Coast Guard public affairs department’s inability to quickly answer questions about the incident. Currier said the agency’s response would be reviewed.
Critics were lining up to blast the Coast Guard — and the government generally — for Friday’s debacle.
The nonprofit group Military Families United called Friday’s exercise “the height of irresponsibility.”
Kris Baumann, chair of the D.C. police union ripped the Coast Guard.
“Even if it wasn’t Sept. 11 and the president wasn’t in the area, this would be absolutely incompetent. Given the fact that it is Sept. 11 and the president was nearby, it’s madness. What were they possibly thinking?” Baumann said.
The fact that no other police agencies knew about Friday’s exercise, Baumann said, was a bad sign.
“We have no coordination among law enforcement in this area,” he said. “We’re two hours after the fact and we’re not still not getting the facts. What if this had been an attack?”
Cato Institute scholar Jim Harper said that ordinary citizens have been cut off from anti-terrorism discussions by the government.
“They’ve frankly gone the wrong direction since 9-11, which is try to take the terrorism fight on their own,” Harper said. “Our country is so well equipped to deal with counter-terrorism. [But] the administration has failed to come up with an effective plan and to communicate it effectively.”
