Tension was high among protesters sleeping overnight at the Capitol Saturday due to rumors law enforcement was going to remove those inside the rotunda.
Although no plans had been made to clear the building, at around 2 a.m. Sunday police officers began taking down the hundreds of signs protesters had been taping on Capitol walls since Tuesday. The sound of ripping tape and crumpling poster board started to wake up citizens in the rotunda, who immediately began talking with officers and demanded to know why the signs were being taken down.
“We are taking the signs down because the marble could be damaged by the tape,” said Madison Police Department Sgt. Mike Newton.
But confusion between law enforcement officials muddled the decision to take down the signs. Capitol Police Officer Jeff Calhoun told a concerned crowd of people that he had no idea the signs were going to be taken down.
Officer J.J. Loud said he received the order to take down the signs from Sgt. Sherry Ravenscroft, but would allow people to go get banners they wanted to keep.
He added that the signs with petitions on them would be kept up and he had signed one of them.
After deliberation between students, citizens and the police, another order was given to allow the remainder of the signs to stay up, and protesters could put signs already taken down back on the Capitol walls.
Aside from confusion with the signs, the overnight occupation of the Capitol went with little incidence. Many protesters staying the night were very appreciate of the police presence.
“The police are allowing us to break two rules – staying here past the 6 p.m. closing time and allowing us to hang up posters so long as we use the right tape,” said Logan Jones, 20, of Janesville.
United Council of UW Students field organizer Ericka Wolf said she had been having excellent communication with Officer Calhoun and had promised him she, along with other organizations, would keep the building as tidy as possible.
“We have been trying to treat this building like our house and respect it,” Wolf said.
She added a PayPal account had been created to accept donations for cleanup supplies.
