30K-Strong Mob Swarms Housing Wait List

A mob of 30,000 people swarmed over an Atlanta parking lot in a heat wave yesterday, clamoring for an application to get on a waiting list for Section 8 housing assistance. Fights broke out, and children were reportedly trampled, with police stepping in to stop the onslaught, according to the Huffington Post. Many had waited in line for days. “People are passing out,” one woman told CNN. “For a minute, I thought I was gonna lose my life in the crowd.”

Only 13,000 applications were actually handed out, and few of those will do much good; the city only has 455 vouchers, and the agency stressed that none were available. By 7:30 this morning about 50 had lined up to hand in their applications early, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Police even formed a drive-through lane, allowing applicants to drop their forms without leaving their cars. “Today, we are accommodating the crowd,” said the Housing Authority’s executive director. (More Section 8 stories.)