Dane County Circuit Court Judge John Albert ordered the Wisconsin Capitol cleared Thursday night (and at close of business hours from now on). However, union plaintiffs and those who had occupied the building for more than two weeks believe they have achieved a significant victory.
Judge Albert also ordered the Capitol open as usual during normal business hours, scrapping the limitations placed on visitors earlier this week.
As soon as the written order was drafted and distributed to the approximately 100 protesters who remained in Wisconsin Capitol, protesters were told to leave.
After a few hours, all of them did so, without incident.
But earlier in the evening, tensions were running high.
Shortly before 6pm, a crowd as large as 100 stormed in through the Capitol’s West Wing doors and past police, which prompted law enforcement to tell legislative staff to secure their individual office doors.
However, most of those protesters left when told they would be arrested if they did not.
For a few hours after that rush, the remaining protesters within the Rotunda and elsewhere on the Capitol’s ground floor were discussing whether to stay or go.
During that interim period, State Representative Janet Bewley (D-Ashland) spoke to group of about twenty protesters inside, saying that whether they leave or stay, they were victorious.
“We needed you to do this, and you did it,” she told them.
Before they made the decision to leave, en masse, protesters were writing the phone numbers of the ACLU and local defense attorneys on their forearms, were discussing how to ‘go limp’ and how to rotate their shoulders to lessen the strain of zip ties.
But in the end, every protester cleared out of the building by 10 pm.
State labor union officials went to court this week, arguing that the security measures put in place just this week denied the public true access to a public building. The judge agreed, in part, with their argument, although he also ordered the Capitol cleared of protesters.
During the court arguments this week, the Administration estimated security costs will exceed $2 million per week and cleaning of interior and exterior, including treatment of the marble inside, could reach $7.5 million.
“DOA, the Capitol Police and the other agencies providing security at the Capitol made every effort to convince people who remained in the building illegally each night to leave voluntarily and I am pleased that they complied with the court order,” said DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch. “I told Judge Albert that once we were able to empty the building when it closes at night, DOA could begin to significantly relax the entry restrictions that were place this week. I’m pleased that I am able to follow through with that pledge.”
The Department of Administration has now instituted new guidelines to maintain public safety and public access in the Capitol.
Starting Friday, the following procedures will be in place in an effort to prevent another occupation of the State Capitol.
- Visitors to the Capitol must enter and exit at the North and South Hamilton doors. Employees who display their ID’s may enter at the MLK entrance
- Members of the public can enter the Capitol for meetings, committee hearings, tours or other purposes.
- Members of the public participating in a rally or protest must remain in the ground floor rotunda area.
- Carry-ins including sleeping bags, mattresses, musical instruments or noisemakers, cooking appliances and other items prohibited by the administrative code will not be allowed in the building.
- Visitors are prohibited from affixing or removing signs taped inside the Capitol. The Capitol is a National Historic Landmark and removal of tape and the restoration of the building must be handled professionally. Retrieval of signs and other material left behind
Huebsch indicated that some of these procedures will change on Monday when DOA institutes a permanent plan for issuing permits to groups holding rallies and rules for conduct within the Capitol.