A flash mob of protesters, assembled via social media and word of mouth, tried to block the exits from the Wisconsin Capitol as legislatures and staffers were evacuated after a Senate vote Wednesday night.
The Senate passed the Budget Repair bill at 6:22 pm. As word spread among protesters, thousands immediately descended on the Capitol. Staffers, speaking to the MacIver News Service on the condition of anonymity for their own safety, talked about the terrifying ordeal they faced trying to get home.
At the time of the vote, there were hundreds of protesters inside the State Capitol. Law enforcement cordoned off areas to separate the staff from the protestors. A group of approximately 30 staff and legislators gathered in the President’s Conference Room near the Senate Chamber to leave as one group.
“Once we open this door, we have to keep moving,” the evacuees were told by law enforcement.
“There were cameras in our faces,” said one staffer. “It was wild.”
Protesters anticipated this move, however. Dozens of them surrounded the Risser Building, where the tunnels end. As the staffers and legislators left the building to get to nearby parking garages, a group of protesters descended on them. Law enforcement quickly tried to get the evacuees back into the Risser Building. One staffer said an officer literally picked her up and threw her back through the doors in a drastic, but necessary, move to ensure her safety.
At least one staffer had their car parked in the Risser Building basement. As the car tried to exit on the ramp, protesters swarmed the car.
They chanted “”Shame, shame, shame!” as the car left, pounding on the windows of the car.
“Fifty to 100 protestors were waiting at the top of the ramp,” said the staffer. “A couple of protestors did jump in front of the car in an attempt to prevent it from leaving, and I am amazed we didn’t hit someone”
A second, smaller group of legislators and staff joined the first group in the Risser building. Eventually law enforcement arranged for a city of Madison bus to pick the staffers and legislators to deliver them to a “secure area.”
The bus pulled up to within 15 yards from the building. Law enforcement then created a barricade with their bodies, so the evacuees could get from the building to the bus.
“I was expecting someone to get punched,” a staffer said.
Some protestors pushed past law enforcement getting in the face of the group. Law enforcement quickly “shoved the group” onto the bus.
One member of the group sitting on the bus was recognized and a protestor punched the bus window directly in front of them. The individual was “startled.”
The attempts to intimidate legislators and staff did not end Wednesday night. In this video, shot Thursday morning, protesters continue to be directed to the tunnel exits.
See the video here: