Tickets now being scalped on eBay.
Via The Daily Mail:
Thousands waited for hours in single-digit temperatures to try to snag a ticket to President Barack Obama’s farewell speech in Chicago.
People began lining up well before sunrise for Saturday’s 8 am ticket distribution, saying they want to show their appreciation and soak in the final moments of his history-making presidency.
The lines stretched for blocks and snarled traffic around McCormick Place, the sprawling convention center along Lake Michigan where Obama will speak on Tuesday night.
You never know when something as huge or as phenomenal like this will happen again, so I was like “I’m not missing this for nothing”,” said Umar Ibrahim, 28, who took the day off from his job as a city bus driver to snag a ticket, waking up at 3 a.m. to start the trek to the convention center.
‘Just talking about it makes you beam,’ he said as he clenched his ticket, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Obama’s final speech to the public will continue a tradition set in 1796 when George Washington addressed the American people for the last time as president. […]
Bellamy-Bonner said she appreciated Obama’s professionalism in office and his support of diversity.
She explained that if there have been any disappointments in his administration, it’s that he couldn’t accomplish more, which she blamed on a lack of bipartisanship.
On Tuesday night, she’s hoping to hear what Obama will do next and ‘what we can do to help.’
Organizers didn’t say how many tickets were available, but many people walked away empty-handed on Saturday.
Among them was Stacy Bond.
The 28-year-old from suburban Evanston said she’s disheartened about President-elect Donald Trump and wanted to be in the room to hear directly from Obama, the first president she voted for after reaching the legal voting age.