By Scott Bauer | Related Press
MADISON, Wis. — A person illegally introduced a loaded handgun into the Wisconsin Capitol, demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers, and returned at night time with an assault rifle after posting bail, police mentioned Thursday.
The person, who was shirtless and had a holstered handgun, approached the governor’s workplace on the primary flooring of the Capitol round 2 p.m. Wednesday, state Division of Administration spokesperson Tatyana Warrick mentioned. The 43-year-old man mentioned “he wouldn’t go away till he noticed Governor Evers” so he might speak about “home abuse in direction of males,” Capitol police mentioned in a bulletin despatched to lawmakers and their staffs.
Evers was not within the constructing on the time, Warrick mentioned.
A Capitol police officer sits at a desk outdoors of a collection of rooms that features the governor’s workplace, convention room and places of work for the lawyer common.
The person was taken into custody for brazenly carrying a firearm within the Capitol, which is in opposition to the regulation, Warrick mentioned. Weapons will be introduced into the Capitol if they’re hid and the individual has a sound allow. The person arrested didn’t have a hid carry allow, Warrick mentioned.
The person was booked into the Dane County Jail however later posted bail.
He returned to the skin of the Capitol shortly earlier than 9 p.m., three hours after the constructing closed, with a loaded assault-style rifle and a collapsible police baton in his backpack, Warrick mentioned. He once more demanded to see the governor and was taken into custody.
The person mentioned “he didn’t personal a car and it’s probably he has entry to a considerable amount of weapons and is comfy utilizing them,” police mentioned within the bulletin despatched to Capitol employees.
Capitol police named the suspect, however courtroom data present that no fees have been filed as of noon Thursday. The Related Press usually doesn’t title suspects till they’re charged and efforts are made to get feedback from them, their lawyer or different consultant.
Madison police reported Thursday that the person was taken into protecting custody and brought to the hospital. A spokesperson for the police division didn’t return an e-mail looking for extra particulars.
“Capitol Police took management of the state of affairs and so it’s over,” Evers informed reporters Thursday.
He declined to touch upon what safety adjustments could also be enacted for him or the Capitol constructing.
“I by no means, ever speak about what my safety element does or what they’re planning on doing,” Evers mentioned. “However anytime one thing like this occurs, clearly they reevaluate.”
The incident is simply the newest in a collection of violent threats in opposition to public officers.
Evers, a Democrat, was on a success listing of a gunman suspected of fatally capturing a retired county choose at his Wisconsin dwelling in 2022. Others on that listing included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell. Whitmer was the goal of a kidnapping plot in 2020.
Warrick mentioned no quick adjustments to safety within the Capitol or for the governor had been deliberate. The general public has free entry to the Capitol every day from 8 a.m. to six p.m. There are not any steel detectors.
