Huffington Post has an article collecting accounts of the Purple Ticket problems, which also includes a description of the Silver Ticket situation I got caught up in. I could live without the "oh the humanity!" drama queen attitude, but if you strip away the tone, this was a pretty accurate description of what I experienced:
At around 10:15, we moved fairly quickly to 3rd and Maryland SW, two blocks away from the "Silver Gate" banner. At that point, the line itself was more than two miles long. But the front of the line "fell apart" as non-ticketed people pushed toward the checkpoint, becoming a giant mass of people. No one could move. There was not a single security staffperson or organizer on the scene to coordinate crowd control. At NO time did anyone provide information to those who were waiting. It was clear that there was no organization whatsoever. We remained at that same spot with no movement, no information, no security personnel, no announcements -- NOTHING -- for another hour, until 11:15. At that point, as the inauguration ceremony was beginning, the crowd, which was yelling "Let us in!" (I have video) and "LET MY PEOPLE IN!) for 20 minutes -- surged forward, pushed over a fence, climbed over security barricades, and flooded onto the Mall. It was a free-for all.
I was closer than this person -- about 100 yards from the gate, and then I worked my way up to a few feet from the barricade -- and it was just like she described. The line dissolved into a mass of people that completely filled the street. No space, no way to get out, so crowded you couldn't lift your arms. I don't remember people yelling "Let us in!" but I did see a woman arguing with a cop on the other side of the barricade. He was yelling "These are not my rules! I did not make the rules!" and she yelled "What are the rules? Will you tell us what they are?" which he did not answer. I think that means he had no idea. I felt bad for him: he was out there having to deal with the beginnings of an angry mob, not quite by himself but close to it.
Right after that was when the barricade toppled and the people rushed forward. I noticed that cops were also opening the barricades that hadn't fallen. At the time I remember thinking that the cops must have known someone was going to get hurt and made the decision to abandon the checkpoint and let us all in. I can understand why people were upset at the poor crowd management, but in that moment I felt the opposite. They were valuing our safety over Obama's. (Though we weren't that close and I don't think there was any real danger from the crowd at our location. Still, we were supposed to go through security and we were allowed to enter without doing so.)
Later in the article there's a bit more about the Silver Ticket people:
The security fence was a double fence of plastic, with about four feet in between the fences. Well, people just pushed over the inner fence and moved over to the outer fence to give them some room.... The flow of people out of the Silver area from that breach was now pretty strong, and as others along the front line saw, they started to push over the fence in their area. Eventually, the entire front fence failed and the whole section just walked forward into the area around the reflecting pool.
When I read that I remembered walking over two plastic mesh fences on the ground. People kept getting their feet caught in the edge of one. I wondered at the time what they were for. Why were there fences inside the Silver area? Now I realize that I must have crossed into the Purple area.
I can understand why the people who were trapped inside a tunnel for the entire ceremony are angry. But I think the people who got in should, well, STFU. Yes, there were problems. Yes, security was inadequate. Yes, I was genuinely scared for a few minutes, and heartily sick of being crowded and pushed after a few hours. But it turned out okay. When I read these exercises in high dudgeon I want to ask, were you expecting that many people to come together with no problems? Seriously?
I mean come on, we got to be there for one of the most important events in our lifetime! I wouldn't have traded it for anything. If you wanted a perfect view and a comfy seat and no inconvenience, you should have stayed home and watched tv.
Looking at the map on the back of your ticket, I don't think those nets were the border between Silver and Purple. The areas aren't named but the whole area on the Mall side of the Pool is highlighted which makes me think that was all Silver. The gates are indicated and the Purple gates were way up on the Capitol side of the Reflecting Pool. So my guess is that Purple was the opposite side of the Pool from where you were.