Historic Capitol campout to end when police kick out protesters on Sunday

[pintobean]

<snip>
The enormous "protest village" that has taken hold inside the state Capitol the past two weeks will officially end this weekend.

Capitol police announced Friday that they would kick out protesters and close the Capitol doors at 4 p.m. on Sunday, a move that would allow crews to begin cleaning up after possibly the longest and most intense protests in state history.

"Everyone agrees that our state Capitol is a source of pride for our state and that we should take a break to take care of the building," said Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs.

Since protesters first arrived Feb. 14 and 15, the Capitol rotunda has become home to thousands of people opposed to Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill.
<snip>

http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_2e705dfa-4154-11e0-8bdf-001cc4c002e0.html

[Bjorn Against]

1. We will see about that

There are many people here in Madison who are fully intending on staying the night in the Capitol again tonight, the only way the police can stop it is to do a mass arrest not only tonight but every night until this situation is resolved. The police have made it clear that they do not want to arrest anyone, they want the Capitol to stay open and they don't want to compromise public safety in order to help Scott Walker weaken his opposition. I think there is a good chance that the police ask people to leave, but then refuse to make any arrests when they don't leave.

[HereSince1628]

11. I think it'll be a test of whether the protests remain free of trouble

The Capitol sit-in has been a powerful rallying point. Photos and video of it have circled the globe and inspired millions of people. It will be understandably difficult to surrender that.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I thought the police had joined the protests:

“Police have just announced to the crowds inside the occupied State Capitol of Wisconsin: ‘We have been ordered by the legislature to kick you all out at 4:00 today. But we know what’s right from wrong. We will not be kicking anyone out, in fact, we will be sleeping here with you!’ Unreal.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x515520

[rfranklin]

3. The announcement was probably made by Walker loyalists...

It says "Capitol police" which is probably small in number and more easily controlled by Walker loyalists.

[pintobean]

7. I would think the capitol police would have jurisdiction in the capitol

[rfranklin]

9. Of course...

I was thinking that the police who are wholeheartedly in support may not be those who have jurisdiction. That would raise the possibility of an interesting confrontation between different police factions.

[pintobean]

5. That's one of the reasons I posted this

The chief says it will be cleared. The cops say they won't do it. It may be a very interesting day.

[Bjorn Against]

6. The police have joined the protests...

By law they have to ask the protesters to leave at 4:00, but it is not so clear that they have to perform any mass arrests if they don't leave. If the police say they don't want to put the safety of either their officers or the demonstrators in jeopardy they will likely be able to allow the protesters to stay and there won't be much Scott Walker can do about it. The debate in the media will be about officer safety vs. Scott Walker wanting to end the protests. The police will win the debate and this will backfire on Walker.

[xchrom]

4. 'every one agrees'? -- who's 'every one'? nt

[annabanana]

8. I'd have no problem as long as I knew they'd be allowed back in . .n/t

[undeterred]

10. The State Patrol will do the dirty work .

The newly appointed head of the State Patrol is Stephen Fitzgerald, who is the father of Senate Majority leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R). Thats why Walker was able to waste their time sending the state patrol to the homes of the 14 Democratic Senators who he knew were out of state. As individuals the state troopers may or may not be sympathetic to the protestors, but they work for a right winger who was recently appointed by Walker.

The Madison police work for a Chief and a Madison Mayor who are very supportive of the protestors. As individuals they may or may not approve of the protests (I think a lot of them do, because they show up on their days off and volunteer to sleep in the Capitol) but they are taking orders from people who are supportive.

I am not sure about the Capitol Police, probably not a huge force, not big enough to deal with the protesters.

The jail in Madison is nowhere near big enough to handle all those protesters, so they really, really do not want to arrest them. There's going to be a lot of talking going on in the Capitol today.

Edit: I heard this morning there are 10 school buses lined up outside the Capitol. Not sure what they are for- maybe they have another place for the protesters to sleep at night. Pretty sure they are not going to let them stay overnight in the Capitol any more.

[Bjorn Against]

13. There have been lots of buses in Madison

My guess is those buses will be used to shuttle protesters back and forth to the protests today, any buses for mass arrests will not come until later if they come at all. The police do not want any mass arrests, and I don't think the Capitol will be cleared tonight. I may be wrong, but with most police on our side a move like this would damage police morale for years to come. I don't think the Capitol will be cleared out tonight, the police will likely refuse to do it.

[Earth_First]

12. Will they still be able to occupy the rotunda during daytime operating hours? n/t

[Bjorn Against]

14. Yes, and there will likely be people refusing to leave every night.

If there are mass arrests tonight then there will likely also be mass arrests tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, and every day until this ends. The police don't want to deal with that, and I don't think they will make those arrests because they are not about to overwhelm their resources for a Governor who is attacking unions.

[pintobean]

15. Kick. Things could get interesting in about 3 hours.