Man returns to Wisconsin Capitol with assault rifle after posting bail for handgun violation: official

A man who was arrested for illegally bringing a handgun inside the Wisconsin Capitol on Wednesday returned to the building later that day wielding an assault rifle after posting bail.

Tatyana Warrick, the communications director for the state’s Department of Administration, confirmed to The Hill that a shirtless man with a leashed dog and a holstered handgun entered the Wisconsin State Capitol and said he would not leave until he saw Gov. Tony Evers (D).

Law enforcement officers took the man into custody for the open carry of a firearm in a public building and booked him into the Dane County Jail, where he later posted bail, Warrick said.

His handgun was seized as evidence, and his dog was turned over to the City of Madison Animal Control, she noted. The Associated Press reported earlier that the governor was not in the building at the time. 

After posting bail, the man, who was not identified by Warrick, returned to the Capitol building at 9 p.m. with a loaded AK-47 style rifle. He again demanded to see the governor, despite the building being closed to the public starting at 6 p.m.

She said law enforcement officers from the Capitol Police and the Madison Police Department spoke to the man and searched his backpack, which was holding a police-style baton. Warrick said possessing the baton was illegal because he did not have a valid concealed carry permit.

She said officers took him into custody a little before midnight for a psychiatric evaluation, and both the rifle and the baton were confiscated.

The incident comes amid rising violent threats toward public officials. Last year, a gunman suspected of killing a retired county judge also had a hit list that included Evers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

In January, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said that threats against members of Congress had dropped in 2022 but are “still too high.” Capitol Police investigated 7,501 cases of threats against elected members of Congress in 2022.

Evers’s office said it does not comment on specific security threats or the governor’s security detail.