One Wisconsin Now on Monday’s Mobilization Activities Outside State Capitol

MADISON, Wis. — One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross issued the following statements regarding Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to close the State Capitol off to the people of Wisconsin and the continued mobilization against his efforts to use the government to take away the rights of working men and women and dismantle the quality of Wisconsin’s way of life.

“After the people of Wisconsin successfully held the State Capitol yesterday despite Gov. Scott Walker’s extreme measures to expel them from the premises, more than 1,000 protesters have already gathered to continue their peaceful demonstration against Walker’s power grab to strip Wisconsin workers of their rights.

“While protesters were promised entry into the building at 8:oo a.m. today, Gov. Walker has proven once again that he’s not just hell-bent on gutting the rights of workers, but the First Amendment rights of all who disagree with his extreme agenda. As of noon today, none of those gathered have been admitted as promised.

“We offer our most sincere thanks to law enforcement officials who today safely removed a rogue agitator attempting to disrupt the peaceful protests outside the capitol building. For 15 days, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites have expressed their views peacefully without any substantive incident or arrest.

“Alarmingly, the individual involved with today’s incident that law enforcement so professionally and adeptly brought to a halt represents the exact type of ‘troublemakers’ Gov. Walker stated in his now-infamous call with ‘David Koch’ that he’s considered deploying to agitate conflict and discredit the hundreds of thousands who have mobilized across Wisconsin to oppose his extremist agenda. Gov. Walker still owes law enforcement and the 74 percent of Wisconsinites who oppose his extreme power grab an explanation of what he meant by “trouble-makers” and why he considered deploying them to interfere with peaceful protesters.”