Coast Guard's Sept. 11 Training Exercise Sparks Confusion In D.C.

Jason Linkins
jason@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting

CNN's Sloppy Reportage Needlessly Panics Nation

First Posted: 09-11-09 12:55 PM | Updated: 09-11-09 02:41 PM

Thanks to CNN's overactive imagination, news consumers experienced a brief dose of 9/11 nostalgia panic as a routine Coast Guard training exercise magically transformed into a touch-and-go bit of terrorist interdiction on the high seas! It's September 11, 2009, and everyone is bored and bloodthirsty.

Here's the breathless account from CNN, all 100% panic-induced fantasia:

The U.S. Coast Guard tried to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River not far from the Pentagon Friday, where President Obama had been at an event commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks.

There were reports on police scanners that the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds of ammunition, but those reports could not immediately be confirmed. It was not immediately clear from the reports whether they referred to warning shots.

The incident took place between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges, in a zone that had been blocked off because of the ceremonies.

The timing of the incident was not immediately clear, but President Obama had departed the Pentagon shortly after 10 a.m. ET. Reports of the incident came in shortly after 10 a.m. ET.

When contacted by CNN, the Coast Guard Command Center said it had no immediate information.