Police tackled a Wisconsin representative to the ground Thursday evening after he attempted to enter the Capitol building to pick up clothes in his office because of tight restrictions placed on building entrance, but all parties agreed the incident was a misunderstanding.
Footage of the incident caught by WISN-TV showed Rep. Nick Milroy, D-South Range, struggling with police officers who would not allow him to get into the building at some time after 6 p.m., when the public was barred from entering.
Milroy said the incident was a misunderstanding since the last several weeks have been a stressful time for both lawmakers and the Capitol Police. Milroy said he empathized with the police force and instead expressed frustration with Gov. Scott Walker’s attempts to close the Capitol off to the public.
“I have been extremely frustrated by Governor Walker’s lockdown of the Capitol this week. This is supposed to be the people’s house, open for governmental business – but it has not been,” Milroy said in a statement. “This armed-palace environment created by Governor Walker has everyone feeling very tense, and emotions are running high.”
Other lawmakers voiced their concern about the issue as well, pointing to Walker’s tight security measures on the Capitol as the root of the problem.
“This is an unfortunate bi-product of the Walker administration’s attempts to lock the public out of the Capitol,” said Rep. Kelda Roys, D-Madison. “This demonstrates the tremendously difficult position law officers have been put in by making them be palace guards. I’m familiar with that feeling. I’ve also been denied access to the building as a legislator.”
Roys also said she thought the incident was a misunderstanding. Milroy was displaying his ID the entire time and was cleared by one police officer, Roys said. She said the officer who tackled Milroy was not aware that he had been cleared and believed Milroy was aggressively trying to enter the Capitol.
Legislators can access the building after hours with an electronic key, but the keys were deactivated because of new Capitol building access procedures.
The rules set to restrict access to the Capitol were deemed too strict by Judge John Albert Friday and will be lessened Monday. But Albert said the Department of Administration did not need to allow people to sleep overnight inside the Capitol.
