Protesters Defy Order to Leave Wis. Capitol as Police Refuse to Throw Them Out
- Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:35am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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MADISON, Wis. (The Blaze/AP) — The occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol by protesters fighting efforts to strip public workers of union bargaining rights carried on Sunday after police decided not to forcibly remove demonstrators and end a nearly two-week-long sit-in.
Roughly three hours after a deadline to vacate the building had passed and as police officers continued to look on quietly, protest coordinator Erika Wolf took to a microphone and announced: “There’s really awesomely good news – that we’re going to be able to stay here tonight.”
A cheer went up from the several hundred protesters who had ignored a request from the state agency that oversees the Capitol to leave by 4 p.m. so that the normally immaculate building could get a thorough cleaning.
“If you want to leave – it’s totally cool, because the doors will be open around 8 a.m.” on Monday, said Wolf, 25, who works with the United Council of University of Wisconsin Students.
But many said they would stay and again sleep inside the Capitol, which protesters have filled with chants, catcalls and song since their demonstration began on Feb. 15.
“It was a victory for peace. It was a victory for democracy,” said Kara Randall, 46, a massage therapist from Middleton who had already spent five nights at the Capitol.
Demonstrators began camping out inside the Capitol two weeks ago in an effort to fight legislation proposed by Wisconsin’s new Republican governor, Scott Walker, that would strip most of the state’s public employees of some collective bargaining privileges.
Labor leaders and Democratic lawmakers say the bill is intended to undermine the unions and weaken a key base of Democratic Party voters.
Walker argues the Republican-backed measure would help close a projected $3.6 billion deficit in the 2011-13 budget, and that freeing local governments from having to collectively bargain with public employee unions would give them the flexibility needed to deal with forthcoming budget cuts.
Wisconsin Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs said demonstrators who had occupied all three floors of the Capitol would have to relocate to the ground floor overnight. Anyone who left the building was barred from returning until Monday morning, although police did allow union officials to bring food into the building for the protesters.
No demonstrators would be arrested as long as they continue to obey the law, Tubbs said. By late evening, the air smelled of pizza and lemon-scented disinfectant as demonstrators quietly ate dinner and several janitors worked around them to clean the Capitol’s marble floors.
“People here have acted lawfully and responsibly,” Tubbs said. “There’s no reason to consider arrests.”
Walker’s spokesman declined late Sunday to comment on the police decision to keep the Capitol open to the demonstrators. In an interview earlier in the day on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Walker said the lengthy protests haven’t eroded his resolve to push forward with his legislative agenda.
“Year after year, governors and legislators before us have kicked the can down the road,” Walker said. “We can’t do that. We’re broke. It‘s about time someone stood up and told the truth in our state and said here’s our problem, here‘s the solution and let’s do this.”
Walker’s proposal stalled in the state Senate when its 14 Democratic lawmakers fled the state for Illinois, leaving the legislative body one vote short of a quorum. The Democratic senators have vowed to stay away from Wisconsin for as long as it takes.
One of the Democrats, Sen. Lena Taylor, tweeted her support to the protesters who remained: “Thank you for exercising your 1st amend right – I’m glad my actions give you opportunity to stand/sit/express yourself!”
Sue Knetsch, 53, of Waupaca, said she stayed away from the Capitol throughout the nearly two weeks of protests, but that she brought her 21-year-old son, Taylor, to the Capitol on Sunday as a lesson in democracy.
“I just want him to know you can do something – his generation is walking around passively saying, `It doesn’t matter,’” said Knetsch, who said she had been arrested at age 17 while protesting the Vietnam War. “This is awesome. I’m a little nostalgic.”
As the deadline to leave the building arrived at 4 p.m., organizers who commanded a microphone on the ground floor urged people to remain until police physically tapped them on the shoulder and asked them to leave. Some individuals left in groups of 10 or 20, while most remained behind. Hundreds of other protesters watched from one floor above, the informal gathering place for those who expected to be arrested.
After the deadline passed, hundreds of protesters on the Capitol’s upper floors picked up their energy level, chanting “peaceful protest,“ and ”Whose house is this? Our house.” At one point, the crowd sang the national anthem.
Others decided to leave once it became clear police were not going to force anyone to go. Rusty Johnson, 35, of Arena, said after nearly two-days straight inside the Capitol, he needed to get home to see his two kids and get ready for work on Monday.
“If I had expected us to be able to maintain this occupation, I would have made different arrangements,” Johnson said. “This didn’t come down like we were expecting.”
—
Associated Press writer Patrick Condon contributed to this report.
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Comments (296)
louzyana
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:08amI still don’t understand why government workers need to be union. Is the government an evil, capitalist pig that forces it’s workers to slave for hours on end??
That the police officers would defy orders and side with the unruly is a very bad sign…
Report Post »hightide
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:07amAnd don’t take anarchy too lightly. It caused the fall of Rome. Stop it now.
Report Post »hightide
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:06amThe idiots are winning. They want anarchy and that is what they are getting. Do the police really think these people are law abiding citizens? Seriously.
Report Post »dat bee
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:38amThe idiots, looter and moochers will not win. Truth will prevail, as long as the right stays strong.
Report Post »felina g
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 9:31amTruth always wins so gird your loins. Upward and onward, Bud !
Report Post »quarter horseman
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:04amWI reps need to be even more carefull, they may not have any protection if things start to get bloody. Looks as if the cops may bloody someone up themselves, time to add them to the list.
Report Post »WishWeWereFree
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:04amThe authorities at the capital make me sick! What gives these people the right to make their own hours for the capital building? Anyone else would have been removed a long time ago. Can we go stage a sit/stand/sleep-in at the White House?Considering that it is the leftist’s who want congressmen to pay for sleeping in their offices, shouldn’t all these losers be paying rent?
Report Post »quarter horseman
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:19amI was thinking the same thing! Now we also have to pay for lodging! how much more do you want from us you leaches!
Report Post »I like all the smelley comment posted because I think the same thing when I see these union slugs,fat, lazy, slow they disgust me!
Mil Mom
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 12:56am@wishwewerefree
Report Post »Anyone else would have been removed a long time ago. Can we go stage a sit/stand/sleep-in at the White House?
***************
Would you really want to considering who now calls it home? I’d be afraid that while I was there, the Chicago mob was picking my pocket, and my identity would be stolen forevermore.
LLATPOH
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:03amMakes you wonder if we could stop paying taxes as a sign of peaceful protest… And get away with it.
Report Post »dat bee
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:34amThat is a great idea…but of course not the way we roll. Maybe that is the moochers next plan.
Report Post »Oldphoto678
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:02amAt least union members pay taxes, unlike your corporate masters.
Report Post »TrueGrit
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:57amTrue.
Ant these people also pay…
the high gas prices (thanks, Obama)…
the high eating oil prices (thanks, Obama)…
“under my plan, fuel prices will necessarily sky rocket”
the high property taxes (thanks, Obama)…
the high food prices (thanks, Obama)…
the higher clothing prices (thanks, Obama)
On and on.
We are doomed, I tell ya’, Doomed!
Wolverine
Report Post »TakeOurCountryBack
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:23amWhat about GM….now 33% owned by unions? They got a $14 BILLION dollar tax break handed to them by the Obama administration even though it clearly circumvents bankruptcy law. But then again Bankruptcy law was also thown out the window by the Obama administration when it negated the rights of secured bondholders of GM and gave a third of GM to the unions.
And while we are talking about unions paying their “fair share”, why do unions represent the largest share of the health care exemptions to Obamacare? Could it actually be putting their gold plated cadillac plans at risk?
This country is no longer run by the rule of law, but a rule of union slush funds and bribes.
But in the end, why does one even attempt to have a logical, fact based dialog with a lib. All they do is resort to lying, name calling, and physical violence. You’d have a better chance of having intelligent dialog with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 12:48am@truegri
Report Post »tAnt these people also pay…
********
Add to your list, They can build new coal plants, but we’ll tax them out of existence.
It’s unfair that other nations pay $10 a gal gasoline and not us, but we’ll probably not be able to get it that high right away, probably $7 a gal.
Jere
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:00amI was a member of a union for 20 years when I worked for the State of California. Then moved to private sector. Why do state workers think they are worth so much more than the rest I do not know. I do know many were some of the biggest screw ups I ever saw and you could do nothing about it. I have been a nurse for 35 years by the way. I made 30 dollars an hour when I left state service and I now work for 22 an hour. I have little stress, no forced overtime and am glad I made the move. I think some people get used to being on the feed bag of the state and dont know how to get off.
Report Post »OneBuckeye
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:59amWhen the police refuse orders, the state soon falls to anarchy!
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:59amThis is a textbook example of the tyranny of mob rule!
Report Post »Oldbutnotsenile
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:32pmSaturday in Washington state, I believe Seattle, the union protesters or mob or Socialist, or Commies, or whatever name they had turned on the police and had signs, down with pigs. Now would you say that is a little overboard or this is what our country is headed for……An Anarchist State…No Thank You, I pass.
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:58amNOT a victory for our Republic. It’s a victory for MOB RULE! And THAT is what they call “democracy”!
Report Post »KwikKarl
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:58amNational Guard time….
Report Post »KwikKarl
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:01amOr even the Active Duty element. After all they created a Homeland tour the other year for purposes such as this…
“They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:56amI’d bet money that they also trash the place!
Report Post »dat bee
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:30amyou’d win the bet…judging from past performance!
Report Post »Uncle Crusty
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:47amThey wouldn’t just trash it, they’d burn it to the ground…dangerous situation.
Report Post »willbedone
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:56amNow what needs to be done is for the police chief to walk up to each policeman on duty at the capitol and say remove these protestors or get fired. AND fire them for refusing to obey an order. Sometimes it is a test of who has the hardest cojones.
Report Post »13thGenerationAmerican
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:54amI hope the Unions prevail. It‘s in everyone’s best interest making less than 500k per year to support labor. I’ve seen too many people take hits on salary, benefits etc, longer hours. People need to realize that when Bush signed TARP the deficit doubled and that didn‘t even include the 2 wars that weren’t on the book yet.
If you want an honest look at what happened, watch the documentary Inside Job. It’s an eyeopener worth taking a serious look at.
Report Post »RN MOM
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:12am13th gen- I often wonder where you get your “facts” from- 1/2 the story as usual. We wouldn‘t need TARP if Clinton wasn’t such a tool- he deregulated Wall Street and banking and made home ownership a right.
Report Post »jjrglobal
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:22amEvery dime of the TARP money has been paid back that was forcefully loaned to the banks, with interest I might add.. The only reason TARP has added anything to the national debt is because Obama and his cronies have been using it as a slush fund. Also, 700 billion dollars sure as hell couldn’t double the national debt. Are you bad with numbers, ill informed , or just a liberal liar?
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:40amOne big flaw with your “logic” 13th – the public sector unions are not “fighting” some evil corporation that gets rich of the backs of the workers – they are fighting me and every other taxpayer who are as a matter of fact going broke with the union demands on our back. The unions are getting rich on the back of my labor and I have had enough. I am not willing to pay for my retirement and my health insurance AND some union “worker’s” benefits that are greater than mine – get you hands out of my pocket!!!
Unions pillage and plunder the public pocket adding no value to the “product” they peddle.
Report Post »13thGenerationAmerican
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:56amReagan deregulated Wall Street and they all followed in behind him. There is enough blame to go around here. It certainly wasn’t me, you or these people. I‘d like to see the TP start addressing financial reform so we don’t get another crash every 5 years.
Report Post »nxs2012
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:12amSince when do you plan for a war, so that you can put in on the books? Such ignorance and yet they believe they have it right? And keeping unions in place will make the budget better, how?
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 12:34am@13thGenerationAmerican
Report Post »Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:54am
I hope the Unions prevail. It‘s in everyone’s best interest making less than 500k per year to support labor. I’ve seen too many people take hits on salary, benefits etc, longer hours.
**************
When the majority of taxpayers make less than the union workers, (with many unemployed and having No One to pay their benefits) THEN IT CAN NOT BE IN THEIR BEST INTEREST TO SUPPORT {ORGANIZED} LABOR. You forget that the Employers, here, aren’t Big Biz or any other thus reviled person, they’re farmers, janitors, hair dressers, department store clerks, secretaries, pharmacists, doctors, housekeepers, daycare workers, [butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers]….
LABOR, CAN’T CLAIM THEIR MISTREATED, WHEN THE EMPLOYERS ARE COMMON LABORERS TOO!!!
dadsrootbeer
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:51am“It was a victory for peace. It was a victory for democracy,” said Kara Randall, 46, a massage therapist from Middleton who had already spent five nights at the Capitol.
No, it was a victory for anarchy and civil disobendience. Since the local police have rallied with you it‘s obvious the laws won’t be enforced in Wisconsin and there is nothing to fear except the majority of voters. The bill will pass as soon as the Wisconsin Democratic senators stop their anarchy and civil disobedience and go back to work so the bill passes. Unions are a plague on this country.
Report Post »QuantumVerp
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:50amHmmm… another reason to add to the list of ‘why your bargaining with our money won’t work’…
‘ They’ are the police! Aheeecheeewahwah!
Go to staples and get some more paper, geez…
Report Post »Ezekiel
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:49amThe only thing this has become is a “victory” for ignorance. Shouting “peaceful protest” does not make it so. If it truly was, they would not need to yell it in the face of the police standing before them. “Others decided to leave once it became clear police were not going to force anyone to go.” Is this statement insinuating that it was obvious some of the protesters gave up because there was not going to be a fight with the cops?
Report Post »NSDQ
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:49amIf I were Walker I’d give my National Guard a call to escort Everyone! The Hell Out!
Report Post »TrueGrit
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:05amOMG
Most of the teachers and the cops are National Guard.
We are doomed. Doomed I tell ya’.!
Instead of Swat Teams, they are going to need Swab Teams.
Wolverine
Report Post »sdranger
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:31amThat’s actually better once the NG is activated and they refuse you now can use the UCMJ (WI version because they won’t be federal) and punish accordingly.
Report Post »Gentlemen I suggest you beam me aboard
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 1:03pmOr better yet get the National Guard to find the demonrats, surround them so they cant escape, and then Walker and the Republicans can have their quorom where ever these guy’s are hiding. They can take the vote and move on to the next item of the peoples business.
Report Post »The Toad
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:49amKick the bums out maybe they’ll get a job. The capital building probably stinks now with a foul odor!
Report Post »peezee
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:49amThese types are known for putting other things ahead of personal hygiene. Imagine the smell in there.
Report Post »TrueGrit
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:58amAnyone remember what Harry Reid said about the tourists
in the capitol building?
Or maybe the big tarp over the Whitehouse last year
to fumigate the West Wing.
LOL myself.
Wolverine
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:47amThe comical part is, just look at the protesters. America’s freaks.
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:32amAgreed. Time to call up the national guard if the police won’t do their job.
Report Post »reconmarine
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:37amIt looks like an inbred family reunion.
Report Post »ADNIL
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:53amLooks like a bunch of woodstock wannabees to me but they’ve got the message all wrong. What a hatefull mob!
Report Post »Down2TheC
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 9:48amTruly the hippie stank must be palpable in that place. After three weeks they need firehoses. They should just stop allowing entry to anyone without a valid WI ID card. That’ll thin it out pretty quick.
Report Post »Oldbutnotsenile
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:23pmEspecially those down in the center of the ring. They look like they were hired right out of some homeless shelter or worse.
Report Post »DVT
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:46amThis proves that the Police CANNOT be trusted to do their jobs! Be very aware people!
Report Post »TrueGrit
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:52amI wonder what will happen if and when the
National Guard is called in???
Wolverine
Report Post »REVerse
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:53amTrue.
Report Post »randy
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:33amWhen the National Guard is called in and they refuse to remove these bums, then all the Gov has to do is call the people of his state in to rid the capital building of these scum
Report Post »not funny
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:37amJust heard from someone who lives in the Dallas area that the police will not respond to a traffic accident unless someone is injured. Is this true?
Report Post »Bullcop34
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 1:22pm@ notfunny…..I was a cop for 14 years and this has been going on since at least 1995. Cops, by law, do not have to respond to accidents, unless injuries or for traffic control, nor do they have to write accident reports. Insurance companies are the ones that are supposed to sort all that out. Somehow, and I do not know how, police got snookerd into writing the reports and being the lead on these incidents. But no, this is not new.
Report Post »Oldbutnotsenile
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:20pmIf the Guard is called in, I do believe they would perform their duty a lot better then the local police have done and in a orderly fashion unless the protesters resist. If the names of these people were taken, I bet you would find many from other states that the unions have brought in to make trouble. Those are what the media means when they say thugs. TROUBLE MAKERS FOR SURE.
Report Post »EdHampshire
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:44am“that would strip most of the state’s public employees of the right to collectively bargain.”
Report Post »Another AP story – another lie.
The bill will limit bargaining for benefits and leaves wages as is.
dadsrootbeer
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:54amSo they will have the same rights that federal union workers have. In fact, the other progressive radical democrat Jimmy Carter and a democratic Congress stripped ALL collective bargaining of Federal Union Employees. Even he agreed with FDR that there shouldn’t be unions in the governement.
Report Post »PA PATRIOT
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:09amEd,
Don’t you just love the TRUTH in that statement?
Just like the AP to throw more gasonline on the fire.
Smart AP, really smart!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:17am@PA Patriot
What else would be expected of the AP…
AP = American Progressives.
Report Post »OneBuckeye
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:27amWhen the police refuse to execute their orders, the state soon falls to ANARCHY
Report Post »ISeeDanger.com
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:40amIf Unions die, the US will live. If they win… I see danger.
Report Post »TrueGrit
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:48amThis is not going to end…
Wolverine
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:54amWhat does a massage therapist, obviously out of work if she has been there a week, have to do with this? 5 minutes of fame and your name in print, I guess. A better lesson for that 21 year old whose mother protested the Viet Nam war, would be an economics lesson about how unions are breaking the budgets of many states, and if the unions get their way, he will be paying for their free perks. Amazing how the real lesson gets lost in the “cause”.
Stuck_in_CA
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:55amOK, Gov. Walker. Enough is enough. Send in the National Guard, fumigate, and get back to the people’s business.
Report Post »These sleazy doper freeloaders — these “students” have got to go.
Stonewall_Jackson
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:56amIf I were charge this is what I would do.
1. Fire all police who refused to follow orders.
2. Call up the National Guard.
3. Have the National Guard enter and forcefully remove said protesters as well as police who have refused to perform their sworn duty.
The big problem I see is having the police in a union as they now have become part of the problem. President Reagan, where are you, we need your leadership in this matter!
cnsrvtvj
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:56amWhen the police start taking sides based on politics, that signals the end is near. Police officers simply cannot be allowed to pick a side. They are supposed to serve everyone, not just those that they agree with. These same officers also slept there, declaring it as a “sign of solidarity” with the pro-union crowd. Not good.
http://www.donsmithshow.com – see the Unions in Wisconsin video
Report Post »Marcia
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:59amWhat is next? The police won’t respond to your house because you voted “wrong”? The fire department won’t put out a house fire because you voted “wrong”? The unions need to be busted apart for the sake of our protection!!!
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:02amSTONEWALLJACKSON, good plan, I hope Walker is listening (reading).
Report Post »JayCee
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:04amFire the police for insubordination.
Report Post »There are plenty of unemployeed Americans who want to work.
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:08am@StoneWall
Good plan, simple, and direct.
When the police have commited to resisting lawfully given orders to remove protesters from the building then they are in defiance of the chain of command, and therefore need to face the sternest of disiplinary actions – fined and termination of their services with loss of all benefits should be the least done to them.
The President and other radicals and extremists must be salvatating over this, as they push their own agenda forward with all due haste.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:13am@True Grit
Unfortunately, you are right, the beginning is happening, now it is to see who among the radicals and extremists will ratch up the heat with violence across the board, and how long until the police turn on the conservatives and tea parties with maximum force as well.
The people need to realise there is a new world being forged around us by current events; the old one is gone, and we need to adjust to the fact of it, we need to see the opportunities for prosperity in it, or we will be devoured by the advesaries, and the old guard who refuses to understand the change is at hand.
Report Post »AmeriWoman
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:19amI thought at first it wouldn’t go for very long, looks like it will.
Sad, this is another thing taxpayers will be responsible for…
cleaning up behind these folks. A motel bill and taxi svc might
get expensive.
AW
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:21am@JBlaze
Just checked out the article on Soros, interesting save for one problem on it, the blog sight they have mentioned of SorosWatch.com appears to no longer exist, or for some reason it is being blocked from access. I have tried several different ways to get to it, and keep getting the message that they are no longer operating.
Report Post »Uncle Crusty
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:31amGet your chinese nose guards on, it’s going to be a rough game!
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:44amStonewall Jackson
Excellent point especially about the police unions. With the power the unions have amassed over the years, the police BECOME part of the problem. They refuse to enforce the RULE OF LAW…instead choosing to enforce the RULE OF UNIONS. I ask you…what’s wrong with this picture? The result is there is no one left to enforce the laws (you and I live by) for fear of retribution from the unions of all people. Definitely the tail wagging the dog. National guard troops come on down and lets clean house. Its time to BREAK THE BACKS of the unions and Wisconsin is the starting point. LET’S ROLL!
Report Post »Doc
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:44amWhy is a 56 y/o woman still “dragging” her 21 y/o son around with her? I guess this is the “kid” Obama thinks needs to stay on his mommy‘s insurance until he’s middle age… Sad.
Report Post »Miguelito
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:53amWho are these protestors? Who is paying their salaries? I could not be absent from my job this long!
BSdetector
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 9:01amI just find it funny that the cops are not just refusing orders because of their own political leanings, but that they are siding with the left who rabidly HATE the “pigs” no matter what side they stand on.
Report Post »jakartaman
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 9:05amThe cops are union wh-res too!
These unions are part of the socialist machine that keep electing
the financial irresponsible demedopes in office
They scratch each others backs
We are not done yet – Vote all socialist out in 2012
Report Post »ishka4me
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:01amas a union member, the cult of the union has so many brainwashed that the problems are going to get much bigger. the union is pushing members towards violence by convincing members that republicans mean violence. Even police are ready to use violence. in new haven ct, union president of police department has urged the city towards anarchy because a few cops were laid off.
Report Post »Rogue
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:04amProtesters have disrupted business in the capitol, certainly with the maintenece of the facility, but I’m sure they have effected normal opertaions in many ways, day to day. If you were standing all alone in a state capitol yelling and screaming, actively getting in the way of people trying to do thier jobs, police would remove you in a heartbeat. Not so with mob rule, apparently. The capitol police are not capable of performing thier duties, and must be replaced. I agree with others – mobilize National Guard troops, establish business hours for the capitol building, and if you stay beyond closing time, you are forced to leave.
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:10amHere is the Police Officers Oath !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the police oath
I DO SOLEMNLY DECLARE UPON MY HONOR AND CONSCIENCE THAT I WILL ACT AT ALL TIMES TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY AND KNOWLEDGE IN A MANNER BEFITTING A POLICE OFFICER
I WILL PRESERVE THE DIGNITY AND WILL RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF ALL INDIVIDUALS
I WILL DISCHARGE MY DUTIES WITH INTEGRITY AND WILL PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING AND CONCILIATION
I WILL EXERCISE MY AUTHORITY AS A POLICE OFFICER IN THE MANNER INTENDED BY THE LAW
I WILL FAITHFULLY OBEY THE ORDERS OF MY SUPERIORS AND WILL BE READY TO CONFRONT DANGER IN THE LINE OF DUTY
I WILL ACT WITH HONESTY, COURTESY AND REGARD FOR THE WELFARE OF OTHERS, AND WILL ENDEAVOR TO DEVELOP THE ESPRIT DE CORPS
I WILL ACT JUSTLY AND IMPARTIALLY AND WITH PROPRIETY TOWARDS MY FELLOW OFFICERS
I WILL CONSTANTLY STRIVE TO HONOR THIS OATH IN MY SERVICE AS A POLICE OFFICER
Seems they forgot the part about obeying their superiors. And no the issue to leave the State Capital at a certain time was in no way at all, under the law, a violation of anyone’s rights !!!!!!
Report Post »encinom
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:31amThe Unions members are patriots and the life blood of this nation. Furher Walker is a tyrannt and a threat to our democrary,
obfuscatenot
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:48amGuests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.
Report Post »Benjamin Franklin
mill
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:50amThe police need to fired…somehow..for dereliction of duty
Report Post »Obama Bin Lying
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:53am@encinom…You are a danger to yourself when you are off your meds
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:55am“… but that she brought her 21-year-old son, Taylor, to the Capitol on Sunday as a lesson in democracy”
That may be how a democracy works, but we are not a democracy. We are a representative Republic.
They are peacefully petitioning for a redress of grievances – as they understand it – which is a good thing, and they should be allowed to protest and chant to their heart’s content. But since they’re wrong about collective bargaining being something you can force on the taxpayers or a business, Governor Scott Walker should just do his best to educate them and continue with his plan to break the Union stranglehold on the private sector.
People can try to collectively bargain all they want, but its unConstitutional to force the taxpayers or a business to have to work with such a group. When the Declaration of Independence says that “all men are created equal”, it’s speaking of each individual compared with each other individual, respectively. Unalienable rights belong to individuals, not to groups.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:01am@watchtheotherhand,
“Seems they forgot the part about obeying their superiors. And no the issue to leave the State Capital at a certain time was in no way at all, under the law, a violation of anyone’s rights !!!!!!”
They aren’t obligated to obey unConstitutional orders. And yes the order to leave the State Capital is a violation of their right to peacefully petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:21amTime to bring in the US marshals and arrest ALL union members in the Capitol building including the union police officers that condone this disrespect. Let them protest OUTSIDE.
Report Post »ozz
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:26am1) Take the name of every protester and charge them criminally after announcing they must go.
2) Log every individual police officer refusing to follow the order to remove them and start hiring to replace them. Fire them as they are replaced .
3) Have the national guard remove them.
4) Pass a new law abolishing all government unions in the state due to the detriment they are to that state.
I am Fire and rescue in my city. I belong to the Teamsters, and I support this. Municipal unions should either be bared from all politics or abolished all together.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:49am@ozz,
“4) Pass a new law abolishing all government unions in the state due to the detriment they are to that state.”
Such a law already exists. It’s called the Constitution, of which individual rights is the primary goal. Unions are, by default, not allowed in government. We just need to enforce the Constitution.
And understand that no matter how well you write laws, Progressives will find a way to convince the stupid that the context in which the law was written is irrelevant to how it should be interpreted.
So our goal shouldn’t be to try to word laws differently than has already been written well, but our goal should be to simply teach people logic. That alone would end Progressivism, because it’s based on the faulty premise that what someone works for does not really belong to him.
Report Post »AmericanSoldier
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:06pmI hope every single one of them loses their jobs. Good luck with collective bargaining in the unemployment line. Let teachers who want to teach take those jobs. They make more then I make as an Active duty soldier, you don’t see me complaining.
Or maybe soldiers should create a union. Yea that’s the answer!
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:21pm@ ADOCTOR you are most wrong sir their right to petition was not impeded you need to look up supreme court rulings on the authority to cordon off and stipulate locations for assembling. That is all that was done is that they had to be out of the building you sir are most very wrong. Example when opposing groups assemble the authorities have been found completely constitutional to keep them in separate areas you need to do some legal homework !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »lketchum
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:23pmBut… the same police would crush the necks of any private citizen who advocated for smaller government and reasonable budgets and related benefits and pensions (that could be sustained).
The police, being “public” employees and exempt from current proposed cuts and changes, “are on the side of the people” – where “the people” are only those feeding at the same trough, or those on the left working to collapse the entire system by overloading it with costs the few tax paying people can no longer afford (not that we ever could afford it).
They are the same police that will only uphold the laws that benefit them, and it pains me to say it, but that is how I view the situation and worse, I FEAR such police very much. They would not hesitate one second when it came to shooting people like me dead – on order from the state – fo having a different world view that does not favor public unions of any kind – because they result in despotism and economic slavery.
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:28pm@ ADOCTOR…………….to save you the time……..
Government restriction of expressive activity imposed in advance of its occurrence raises the specter of a prohibited form of content or viewpoint discrimination known as a “prior restraint Government prohibition of speech in advance of publication.
One of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the freedom from prior restraint. ” on speech. (15) Concerns over prior restraints relate primarily to government restrictions on speech that result in censorship. (16) Although the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that “any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption A conclusion made as to the existence or nonexistence of a fact that must be drawn from other evidence that is admitted and proven to be true. A Rule of Law.
If certain facts are established, a judge or jury must assume another fact that the law recognizes as a logical against its constitutional validity,” it has consistently refused to characterize government restriction of protest activity as a prior restraint. (17) Restrictions imposed on expressive conduct must not operate as a form of censorship. Therefore, when imposing restrictions on protest activity, the government is not permitted to discriminate based on the content or viewpoint of the demonstrators and must allow for adequate alternative means of expression. A complete ban on protest activity that effectively silenced dissent in a public forum would be a presumptively pre·sump·tive
adj.
1. Providing a reasonable basis for belief or acceptance.
2. Founded on probability or presumption.
pre·sump
….. Click the link for more information. unconstitutional unconstitutional adj. referring to a statute, governmental conduct, court decision or private contract (such as a covenant which purports to limit transfer of real property only to Caucasians) which violate one or more provisions of the U. S. Constitution.
….. Click the link for more information. prior restraint on speech and, accordingly, is rarely encountered in actual practice. (18) Much more commonly presented are government efforts to regulate protest activity through a permitting or licensing process whereby officials are put on notice of the planned activity and then seek to impose an alternative date or time or a different location or route than that requested by the organizers of the protest. (19)
Government restriction of expressive activity imposed in advance of its occurrence raises the specter of a prohibited form of content or viewpoint discrimination known as a “prior restraint Government prohibition of speech in advance of publication.
One of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the freedom from prior restraint.
….. Click the link for more information.” on speech. (15) Concerns over prior restraints relate primarily to government restrictions on speech that result in censorship. (16) Although the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that “any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption A conclusion made as to the existence or nonexistence of a fact that must be drawn from other evidence that is admitted and proven to be true. A Rule of Law.
If certain facts are established, a judge or jury must assume another fact that the law recognizes as a logical against its constitutional validity,” it has consistently refused to characterize government restriction of protest activity as a prior restraint. (17) Restrictions imposed on expressive conduct must not operate as a form of censorship. Therefore, when imposing restrictions on protest activity, the government is not permitted to discriminate based on the content or viewpoint of the demonstrators and must allow for adequate alternative means of expression. A complete ban on protest activity that effectively silenced dissent in a public forum would be a presumptively pre·sum
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:30pm@ ADOCTOR……………As you can read a censorship was not placed on the group at all. They could have continued all night outside the capitol building if they wanted to. And yes the cops did have an ethical and legal duty to uphold the superiors commands as they DID NOT violate any ruling of the SCOTUS on this issue constitutionally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Marcobob69
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:31pmSo now the police are involved in this? The “revolution” the progressives covet so much is almost here, so we had better start preparing for the worst. Actually, we SHOULD have started preparing three years ago when a “community organizer” was elected to the highest office in the country. Union organizers communicating with the White House three or four or more times a week? Yes, the **** is about to hit the fan!!! Get ready, people. ARE YOU AWAKE YET, AMERICA? IF NOT, YOU BETTER WAKE UP SOON OR YOU WON’T HAVE A COUNTRY TO CALL YOUR OWN.
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:41pm@ ADOCTOR……………common sense should have told you this. Have you not seen protests where barricades are erected to serve as boundaries where protesters can assemble. Try crossing that boundary and see of the cop feels he would be violating your right to assemble. The right to assemble does not mean anywhere, anytime without any boundaries at all. If so then you have to explain to me why pro-life protesters are hauled off if they protest right outside of PP. You were simply wrong in what you stated.
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:50pm@ ADOCTOR……….when a protest is found to pose reasonable risk to public safety or interfere with governments function (which this case in WI was doing) then they are perfectly with the constitution to establish boundaries while providing for an alternative to assemble and protest. So where exactly is the unconstitutional part in your mind?
Report Post »watchtheotherhand
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 12:58pm@ ADOCTOR………………with regards to protesting abortion clinic as an example there are guidlines that if not followed can land you in jail. Here is one.
Don’t stop and block the public sidewalk if you decide to speak to women entering or leaving the clinic. This is grounds for an arrest. Leave the abortion clinic quietly taking everything you brought with you.
Read more: How to Protest Legally at an Abortion Clinic | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2154658_protest-legally-abortion-clinic.html#ixzz1FHGRM1Lm
You cannot impede anyone including government and its ability to function when protesting publicly. There are most certainly guidelines for these protests.
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 1:03pmClose the capitol for safety reasons. Take their names and addresses, press charges, issue warrants, and publish their names. Then make sure all the people they are supposed to serve know that they were not doing their job while breaking the law and shutting down democracy. Also, how much are they being paid by the unions to shut down democracy?
Report Post »happyboy
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 1:10pmTHE POLICE HAVE CHOSEN THE SIDE OF LAW BREAKERS.
Many of the Union Thugs who have assaulted TEA demonstrators in Wisconsin are police officers in civilian cloths. This is why they are able to assault people and remain inside the capital building. If you look close at some of the video footage you may see a holstered handgun. Who else other than a cop would be allowed to carry a handgun during the anti-state-government demonstrations. We are going to need armed troops to restore the LAW to our nation. The police will have to be disarmed and then fired.
Report Post »lionslayer44
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 2:16pmi agree with STUCK its time to call in the state national guard have the police officers arrested and fired.
Report Post »Sinista Mace
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 2:27pmThe police took sides looong ago.
Report Post »chubby
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 2:38pmI agree with the comments that those Police Officers that did not attend to business should be fired.
The government buildings these freeloaders have been occupying why have they not been closed and locked so that there could be no 24 hour habitation?
Who are paying for these folks? You and I are. And, if we‘re not careful we’re going to be paying for a lot more before all is said and done.
I will pray that WI will get this bill passed and those that have fought against it will pull their heads out and quit listening to those that only want to use them to turn this country into a Socialist country.
Better hold on folks as this is going to get VERY ugly before it is all over with.
Report Post »wipinitboss
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 3:51pmIt’s pretty simple, isn’t there a main circuit breaker for the heat?
Report Post »waggie
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 4:06pmIf the cops don’t want to do their job, I say the governor GETS RID OF THEM and puts in all of the recruits that are waiting in the wings or the ones that have been laid off!
Report Post »Jules 59
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 4:25pmWhy aren’t these people reporting to work? Is it true that you don’t have to work if you have a UNION job? How wrong is that!!!
Report Post »Jules 59
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 4:27pmTURN OFF THE WATER, HEAT AND ELECTRIC. Then, see how long they stay. These people should be working and need to go home. The taxpayers should not be expected to pay for them to protest in the warm comfort of the Capital building.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 7:37pm@watchtheotherhand,
“@ ADOCTOR you are most wrong sir their right to petition was not impeded you need to look up supreme court rulings on the authority to cordon off and stipulate locations for assembling.”
And if the Supreme Court said you can only assemble in your homes to petition, would that also be Constitutional?
The point is that the Supreme court doesn’t actually decide that a law is Constitutional based on their own whim – and that’s pretty much what is meant by “nation of laws, not of men”, is that the Constitution means something specific, and may not be reinterpreted to mean anything else.
We have a process by which the Constitution may be altered, called the Amendment Process.
“That is all that was done is that they had to be out of the building you sir are most very wrong. Example when opposing groups assemble the authorities have been found completely constitutional to keep them in separate areas you need to do some legal homework !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The Supreme court can be wrong, and when it is, their ruling has no force of law – including cordoning off areas where the government doesnt particularly like you to petition.
All legal homework begins with logic, and if the law fails to conform to logic, then it has no force of law. Past ruling IS NOT a Constitutional – let alone logical – basis for rule of law; And in fact, is the OPPOSITE of the rule of law.
Rule of law doesn’t mean that there is a law written and we follow it – ALL governments have those, that wasn’t the point.
Rule of law refers to laws of logic and morality – laws which can be falsified, and are therefore universal. This is where we get the Constitutional principle, upon which all American laws are to be based, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 8:11pm@watchtheotherhand,
“@ ADOCTOR……….when a protest is found to pose reasonable risk to public safety or interfere with governments function”
A petition for the redress of grievances does not pose any risk to public safety; Destroying property or blocking traffic IS NOT a petition, it’s an attempt to get noticed by some other reason than the arguments on which a petition is based.
As for whether a petition interferes with government’s function, that very much depends on how a particular government function relates to the petition. The POINT of a petition is to force government to attend to a matter, so a petition necessarily interferes with whatever else those to whom people are petitioning were doing at the time.
Report Post »JoeyBagaDonuts
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 10:05pmWho runs that state, the cops or the Governor? Fire those worthless cops and make it a volunteer police force. If it was a bunch of Pro-life people demonstrating, those same police wouldn’t hesitate a micro-second to arrest them.
Report Post »Oldbutnotsenile
Posted on February 28, 2011 at 11:00pmWe as a country are in big trouble if the union wins in Wisconsin. The unions are paying the hotel bills for the 14 cowards hiding out in Illinois and also bringing in whoever they can get for a buck and probably a joint to camp out and smell up the Capitol Building. It is a real shame when the police will not round them up. If they are that into it, they can yell, scream, beat their drums, raise their fist and continue to fight for something that is going to ruin this entire country. Pretty soon there won’t be a 1st Amendment to stand on, if they continue to take away our rights and God out of our country .
Report Post »Mil Mom
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 12:12amAfter the deadline passed, hundreds of protesters on the Capitol’s upper floors picked up their energy level, chanting “peaceful protest,“ and ”Whose house is this? Our house.”
Report Post »***************
Maybe someone should simply put them to work CLEANING THEIR HOUSE. IF THE STATE IS BROKE, WHY WERE JANITORS {PAID?} WORKING TO CLEAN AROUND THESE “HOMEOWNERS” WHO WERE CAMPED OUT THERE. THE GOVERNOR SHOULD HAVE TOLD THEM ANYONE NOT LEAVING BY 4:00 WOULD BE EXPECTED TO SCRUB FLOORS, WINDOWS, AND TOILETS (THEY COULD LOCK THEM IN TILL IT WAS CLEAN!), my guess they’d have trampled each other getting out!
naed5048
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 1:19amI believe I would take the fire hose to them till they did leave.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on March 1, 2011 at 2:48pm“People here have acted lawfully and responsibly, There’s no reason to consider arrests.”
????
Where was this guy during the rave??? The air was literally thick with the smoke from the illicit drugs!
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