News from Inside the Wisconsin Capitol Building

The Blog from Inside the Capitol Endures...

My name is Jonathan Scott.  I have been living inside of our Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin most days and nights since February 22, 2011.  I want to give everyone a window into the real situation inside of our Capitol Building.

Tubbs word

Tubbs has given his word that Capitol will be completety open at eight tomorrow if he can get the building cleared tonight. Seems as the we are going to give him a chance on his word. If he breaks his promise, sleepover tomorrow night at the capitol.

Rep Hulsey gets emotional

Rep Hulsey just gave a quick speech to the rotunda. He urged us to continue protesting amd to start recall efforts. He also made a crack about getting to soeak about the bill for the first time in assembly today. When he started to thank us one more time, he was overcome by emotion and begun to cry as he handed the people's mic back to the people.

Scott Walker is a liar many times over

Yesterday, when defending his goal to eliminate milwaukee teachers residency requirement, Scott Walker showed concern about the fact that Milwaukee (along with mamy other districts) is having trouble attracting and retaining teachers. How dare you sir. Shame on you for pretending to care about the children of our state. Bald faced lie! How the hell is Milwaukee, or any other district going to attract quality educators under this shameful bill of yours. If this stands, not only will teachers leave our state, but so will those who plan to start a family. And you must be crazy if you think families with children will even think about moving to the once proud state of Wisconsin. Shame on you sir. You are a crook and a liar, and the worst thing to ever happen to our state. However, your time is running out. I promise to remember the ashe wednesday massacre. And I pledge to do whatever it takes to get you recalled when that time comes. If I have to knock on every door by myself, I will. You are no longer my governor, and your days are numbered as this states dictator.

Shame on you republicans

Republican reps just got a huge dose of shame. Shame! Shame! Recall! Recall!
Anyone coming to the capitol this weekend, bring signs. They seem to be letting them in and we have a lot of signs to replace.

Some good old fashioned solidarity

Since his lordship has turned the speakers off in the capitol. Everyone lucky enough to get in the palace has peacefully assembled outside the assembly in the west wing. 'kill the bill! Kill the bill!'

Police state has consequences

It's comfirmed. The "debate" that is taking place right now is not being piped in through the capitol speakers like it had been in the past. Even with the small number of people being let in, they don't want us to hear whats going on in what used to be a government for the people. Scott is taking our government away from us.

Made it back in. DOA continues to break law.

King Walker is only allowing a precious few into his palace. This is a direct violation of a court order. 'Ol Walker continues to show a complete lack of consideration for our laws, our constitution, and our court system. For these treasonous acts against our great state, I have no choice but to no longer recognize him as my governor. When he is recalled in less than a year, in my mind, it will only make it official...
I'm wondering where the tv's are that show the legislature. I'm thinking maybe King Walker has taken them away from us as punishment for our solidarity...

I'm baaaaacccckkkk!

Sorry it's been so long. I've been very sick. Anything happen while I was gone? Didn't we get a court order to keep our house open? Looks like it's Scottie's police state palace again... And I might have to sleep outside.

OUR HOUSE! OUR HOUSE! Stay Strong, WI; this is not over!

We have to come back every day whether it be inside or outside to show Governor Walker, our senators, our state, and our country that our voices will be heard!  See you in Madison!

Getting ready to leave together

Court order is for Monday AT 8

The whole order has to be written up tomorrow and orders can only go into effect on weekdays.  We are discussing options and ramifications.

WE ARE ROTUNDAVILLE! (I just found that out)

Wisconsin is NOT for SALE!  Peg Lautenschlauter is here (our lawyer, former atty general).  SHOWERS! SHOWERS! SHOWERS! SHOWERS!  Thanks to everyone in Walkerville for supporting the cause!

Our Lawyer just got to the Capitol

We are waiting to see both the court order for us to leave and court order for the building to be re-opened at 8 tomorrow before we will leave the capitol. It actually feels like we are getting somewhere.  Movement has been made.

DOA Has Brokel Law!!! Walker will be held in COMTEMPT OF COURT!

If he doesn't let us in a 8 Monday morning, Walker will be help in contempt of court. Can't confirm if that is an impeacheable offense.  We will leave peacefully together. If Walker breaks law, we will peacefully resist.  We have a moral and constitutional authority. We will not give up!  Thank you to all of the people who supported us on the inside and kept fighting on the outside!!!

(We will still wait for proof in writing before we leave.)

 

This what happens

It pretty ugly right now. This is what happens when you lie to the people

Jesus

Its extremely volatile in here right now. Rep husley is going to speak now. He just said we have to leave. People are mad, they dont trust that it will be opened back up tomorrow

All hell just broke loose. A huge mass of protesters just got in somehow but are being blocked by a wall of cops, so insiders on one sude of the cops in a corridor and outsiders on the other side. But we are all in our house! I see a lot if faces I havent seen in days

Here we go

4:30pm: Closing arguments are being made in the hearing. We'll soon have the judges decision. The insiders are protesting inside the rotunda right now, live on ustream.

Lol. This hearing is great

3:50pm: I can't wait to read the transcript for this hearing. Lots of funny stuff. One highlight. 911 was called due to broken elevator, a police stuck inside. Firefighters called to scene, stopped by security, aren't able to get inside for over 15 minutes!!!

Palm Trees in Madison, WI... Go Fox News!!!

 

We shall overcome

2:30pm: We just stood in a circle and put on a stirring rendition of 'We shall overcome". Even the troopers seemed to enjoy it. A couple of them filmed us; I heard another officer say on his phone, "you should hear this", and put his phone up in the air!

Hearing continues..

1:57pm: Just heard some uplifting speeches from people who have come in from the outside. Now we are singing songs of freedom...

@Chris with love

Thank you Chris, assume its the same Chris who also wrote a very nice letter? Your letter was read to the whole group and I remembered you from my blog. Thank you for the goodies and the support! We miss you guys. Much love...

Hot sunny Madison, Wisconsin

Just got word there are protesters outside with at least a dozen inflatable palm trees! Keep bringing 'em out Wisconsin. The more we have the less the media can ignore what they represent.

Cleaners unite

9:37am: The zamboni just washed the rotunda floor as it does every morning at 9:30. Then we organized a cleaning party in which all of us walked around tidying up just in case we have company today. Following that, drum circle. No coffee, but pepsi is making for a fine replacement.

Brrrrr

7:38am: It was really cold in here last night, but hey, at least we are inside. Lokks like only 40-50 slept here, so the DOA definitely won the tactics battle yesterday. There move of the day was eight people asking to be 1:1'd near closing time, and somehow they were all escorted out without being replaced. With any luck though, the administration will be forced to open the doors by this afternoon. With even more luck, we'll get coffee this morning!
Strange: Around nine last night, two officers seemed to be trying to make contact with everybody here. They would ask us if we were planning to stay the night, if we wanted to leave, and when we were planning to exit the building. Weird. I had my speech prepared, but they never got to me.

Thank you! Thank you!

10:00pm: I just checked the medic staff's inventory and thanks to all of you out there, it appears we had quite the successful smuggling op today. Food is still at a premium though, so we're always greatful to get it. Thank you everyone for all your support, and a special thanks to all those of you who are on the outside in the cold standing with us each and every day. I'm going to try and sleep now. One day longer.

Taste of India

9:30pm: Taste of India just donated an impressive spread of food. This will be the best meal I've had in eight days. Thank you Taste of India! It was not technically allowed in, so also thank you officers! Really makes me wonder, how much harder would this occupation have been if law enforcement wasn't overwhelmingly on our side.

www.tasteofindiamadison.com
It was great, support them and thank them for us! Thank you for the link Tamara.

The 1st floor is ours

8:00pm: Great moment. Eight protesters claim the first floor for the people. They marched right up there and circled the rotunda above us, bypassing any officers in front of them. Good news, they report to us that our state constitution is still up there and hasn't been rewritten or edited. They then inform us that they are coming back down by their own choice, and that they just wanted to show us that the first floor is ours.

Thank you brother and sisters!

5:30pm: People snuck in seven Ians pizzas! and socks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But will there be consequences?

4:45pm: I have just confirmed that there was a public hearing in the capitol earlier today. Once again, Walker is in violation of a court order: "It is hereby ordered that Respondent shall open the Wisconsin Capitol to members of the public during business hours, at times when governmental matters, such as hearings, listening sessions and court arguments are being conducted."
This is clear contempt of court.

Clean shirts are for people with rights

Doug commented "If it smells so bad in there, why don't they open some windows?"
Ha! Darn windows, if only they weren't screwed shut. A funny thing has happened. All last week, I marveled at how clean this place could be considering the tens of thousands who had been here. Since we have been confined to the ground floor however, things appear a little messy. It's like moving an apartment complex full of stuff into a studio appartment. As far as the smell, I can't speak for everybody, but my personal hygeine has seen better days. Specifically speaking, every day up until Sunday night. Until then we could leave the Capitol withought feeling like we were throwing our cause under the bus. If we could leave to take a shower and change into fresh clothes, without fear of being locked out of our house, most of us would jump at the chance.

Democracy is beautiful

3:12pm: Had to share this. Someone just walked by in a group of police escorted suits. As she did, I heard her say, "doesn't it just break your heart, all these signs gunking up these beautiful marble columns" Wow.
So I followed her, yelling "democracy is messy!" If I had more time to think about it, actually I would of shouted "Democracy is beautiful!" Darn.

The People’s House moves outside!

Because the capitol is closed to the people, WI state Assembly members from districts 9, 42, 73, 62 have brought their office furniture outside through windows and are meeting with constituents in the lawn. 

Peaceful protest

Standing as witness to the incredible peaceful nature of our occupation of public property is this. During the last two days, small children from area schools have been allowed into the Capitol, unescorted by police, on field trips to see with their own eyes what democracy looks like.
Update: No update, nothing has happened for awhile. All is relatively quiet inside the Capitol. I hope the outside is jumping.

Fire hazards do not honor fire fighters

12:44pm: Two dozen or so firefighters enter the rotunda to a small cheer. A cheer that is pitiful compared to last weeks ovations. C'mon Scottie, please let six hundred of my friends in so we can give theses guys the show of respect they deserve. Why do you hate firefighters?!
Update: Every single firefighter was wearing a Rep. pass so thank your Democratic assembly members for getting our heros in. I found out that each rep has eight passes, not twenty, so three reps had to use all of their passes to get these guys in. I've heard that there are over a hundred firefighters outside that want to come in.

Crackin down

The powers that be have come up with a nifty way of preventing supplies from coming in through bathroom windows. The locks are screwed into the locked position and then the screw heads are sawed off.

They are not confiscating bananas

As far as we know, officers at the entrance are not instructed to shake down visitors to Walker's Palace. So please stuff your person with food if you are one of the lucky few who can get in.

Eavesdropping is fun

One of my favorite hobbies here at the capitol is trying to hear on-duty officers talking to each other when they don't think anyone is around. Here are the top three conversations I hear:
3. The foul odor
2. How annoying the drums are
1. Scott Walker is breaking the law
There's a meeting about to take place, so i'll have more comments on my hobby later...

Trying to game the system

9:38am: There is kind of a 1:1 exchange going on right now. A cop escorts one person out, and the next person in line comes in. I don't think they let you choose your replacement, so we had the first person out try to get sleepers to the front of the line. The other way people have been getting in is by making appointments with their Rep. This was a great way to get sleepers in. Now, however they are limiting each rep to twenty passes. So you have to turn the pass in to let someone else in. Well, if twenty sleepers use one reps passes, this would be another law violation because from then on people would not be able to meet with theirr rep. This is no matter though, because a few sleepers are taking the passes from "visitors" and turning them in to officers as if we found them laying on the floor.

Brand new day inside the WI Capitol!

8:30am: I got a full eight hours of sleep last night! I'm lucky to get over four hours, but eight? I'm a new man. We had a mental wellness meeting last night, which taught me a lot about why I was feeling so awful yesterday. Beside the lack of sleep and the emotional drain that, I was faint all day partially due to a lack of potassium and a generally bad diet. Up until yesterday, food wasn't a problem because we had a lot of it. But now, it's important to monitor your food intake. I will be more aware of this moving forward. Thanks to all of you for the well wishes.
I've heard that people sleeping on the outside in solidarity with us, so we on the inside still have it easy. Thank you all, we love you and support you.
Update: We lost four sleepers this morning due to the lie that people would replace them. Also, the entrance checkpoint boundary has been moved back further into the building to keep our voices farther away from the shame. I figure the red ropes will soon restrict all of us to the rotunda alone!

Two steps into the Capitol and three steps out

8:04pm: First some great news. Thanks to our reps sneaking in people today, even with the aggressive strategy by Walker, we've actually gained sleepers today! I'd say we've gained about fifteen!
Now, some bad news. The police caught someone sneaking supplies in through a bathroom window, so Scottie has punished his subjects by severely limiting our food supplies. Today we've survived on cliff bars, fruit and carrots. Along with a few other odds & ends.
I'm going to try to sleep now, this has easily been the hardest day, physically and mentally. We're still here.

The 6:00-6:05 meeting at the Capitol in Madison, WI

6:16: So check this out. There was a hearing scheduled from 5 to 7 tonight. During a hearing, by law the building must be open to the public. Even if it is after six. What somehow magically happened, was the meeting lasted all but 5 minutes. However, I was definitely at the entrance from 6:00-6:05. No one was let in.
Update: Someone spotted Scottie on the third floor so we had a nice little "shame" chant

Is the Capitol closed?

6:00pm: So if we really want to leave, we won't be replaced right now, no 1:1. There is an exit open, but it's not an entrance. We're waiting to see if they'll open the entrance back up.

Shame in you, now governor

5:07pm: Not much to report, the lucky few allowed into the palace made noise in the west wing during the speech. Now, the democratic assembly members are giving speeches in the rotunda while we cheer, thank them and shame 'ol Scottie.

The King's Speech

4:07pm: Most of the group has moved to the west wing to be loud. No idea when the king will appear, but it appears they aren't going to stream it for us like they do with the senate/assembly. This is bull.

I've taken a new job

3:30pm: I'm the doorman for King Walker. I welcome those here for the address, "Welcome to Walker's Palace, you're lucky to be here!"

Dane County Sheriff Mahoney

Refering to why he pulled his officers from the capitol, "I refused to put my deputy sheriffs in the position of playing 'palace guards'."

Still no one being let in.

2:43pm: From what i've gathered, since 10:30 this morning, the Walker administration is in direct violation of a court order to allow the public into this building. Stay strong out there you guys, this fight is about you.

Walker continues to dictate

1:16pm: Well, it looks like we'll be waiting unil the 2:15 hearing. Apparently, Walker claims that they are in compliance with the restraining order (by letting in one for everyone out), and that is what will be decided at the hearing. Rumor has it that Scottie might have to be at that hearing. That's all for now. They've given the drums a break and we're kind of at a stand still for now. I'm getting the scary feeling that this is playing out the way our supreme leader wants