Tensions flare at Democratic Nation Convention due to overcrowding issues

Attendees of the final night of the Democratic National Convention were complaining about major over crowding issues Thursday.

Hillary Clinton was scheduled to take the stage Thursday night and accept the Democratic party’s nomination fro President.

By 6:30 ET, much of the arena seats were already filled, however hundreds of people were still roaming the halls.

Our ABC 17 News crews in Philadelphia saw several frustrated attendees and staff members Thursday. Many expressed their disappointment with how the DNC was handling the crowd.

At one point, our crews saw one of the staff members assigned to check credentials and clear aisles march away from her post telling other staffers that she was done getting yelled at by people in the crowd.

Shortly after 8:00 ET, staff members told the audience that people were no longer allowed to save seats for anyone and said they would start filling any open seats one at a time.

Outside of the arena, dozens of people at several entrances were lined up, waiting for a seat to open inside.

Our ABC 17 News crews talked to one person waiting in the one in, one out line who told us that no one was leaving their seats anymore. He said they had been waiting in line for more than 2 hours and said only one person has gotten inside the arena during that time.

Our crews say the lack of space inside the arena has led to several hostile situations and verbal fights. However, they say they have not seen in physical fights break out.

Our ABC 17 News crews say it is clear more credentials were given out than there are seats available inside Wells Fargo Center.

They say overcrowding was also an issue on Wednesday night. On Wednesday, people were apparently allowed to sit in the aisles.

Our crews say this clearly created an increased security risk due to the inability to move quickly through the arena.

Our reporters on scene say staffers did work to make sure people were not sitting in the aisles on Thursday. They say this is likely what caused the long wait lines outside the entrances.

Our crews were also at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. They say at that convention, staffers would not allow anyone to linger in walkways because of a possible fire safety hazard. They also said there were no obvious overcrowding issues at that convention.

Coming up on ABC 17 News at 9:00, our crews will give you a look at the overcrowding issues live from Wells fargo Center.