Some in state GOP compare Act 10 protests to U.S. Capitol riot.
But no deaths, looting or weapons arrests over union law outcry
Some Wisconsin Republicans have compared Wednesday’s rampage in Washington, D.C. — when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, driving lawmakers from the House and Senate floor as they smashed windows, ransacked offices and clashed with officers — to the 2011 Act 10 protests in Madison over then-Gov. Scott Walker’s measure to all but end collective bargaining for most of Wisconsin’s public workers.
Both involved large crowds of people. Both were loud. And both occurred in and around a historic building.
Walker himself compared the two on the size of the crowd and occupation of the statehouse.
“The images at the U.S. Capitol brought back horrible images from when the Wisconsin State Capitol Police were overwhelmed in 2011,” Walker tweeted Friday, adding, “In 2011, 100,000 occupied the Wisconsin Capitol and square. They defied law enforcement and took over the building. Riots and violence are never the answer!”
But there were stark differences between this week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol aimed at overturning a presidential election and the protests at the state Capitol almost a decade ago.
Here are some key differences.
Injuries and deaths
During Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, one woman was shot and killed by officers, three more people died from medical emergencies, and dozens of police officers were injured.
On Thursday, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died from injuries he suffered during the riot, becoming the fifth person to die in relation to the attack.
Wisconsin’s Act 10 protests were overwhelmingly peaceful.
There were some tense moments — including one in which then-state Sen. Glenn Grothman, a Republican, was heckled and surrounded by protesters until then-Democratic state Rep. Brett Hulsey stepped in to diffuse the situation.
Grothman, now a U.S. representative, was in his D.C. office when rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol.
“Obviously there were some of the more outright violent people here,” Grothman said Friday. “It never reached that pitch (during Act 10).”
At another point during Act 10, Republican senators were led out of the Capitol through the tunnels and transported on a city bus to a secure location with the help of Capitol police. Walker also used the tunnels during the protests.
Bullets were found scattered around the Capitol grounds in early March 2011.
Both Republicans and Democrats, including the 14 Democratic senators who left the state and headed to Illinois in an effort to block the measure from getting a vote, reported receiving harassment and death threats. Dozens of threats were investigated.
Katherine Windels, a Cross Plains woman who emailed death threats to Republican state senators during Act 10, pleaded guilty in May 2012 to making a bomb threat and was placed in a firstoffenders program.
Property damage
The full extent of damage to the U.S. Capitol is not yet known, but it appears from photographs that the historic building sustained millions of dollars in damage. Windows were smashed, doors were damaged and historic works of art were vandalized.
For example, a 19th-century marble bust of former President Zachary Taylor was smeared with what appeared to be blood, The New York Times reported.
“A picture frame was left lying on the floor, the image gone,” the Times reported.
Furniture and belongings were damaged or looted. Some who stormed the Capitol spread feces throughout the building, multiple news outlets reported.
While there was some damage done to the state Capitol in 2011 during the weeks of protests — which included some people sleeping in the statehouse rotunda and halls — there were no reports of looting, ransacking or thefts.
One top Republican official at the time noted there was no “malicious damage” to the statehouse and said most of the costs linked to the weekslong protests were due to law enforcement overtime bills.
The state Department of Administration in May 2011 estimated cleanup and overtime costs for the event would reach about $8 million, a total that included about $270,000 for Capitol building repairs.
Mike Huebsch, who then served as DOA secretary, initially estimated the repair costs alone would run about $7.5 million but he later dramatically revised that number after acknowledging it was a quick estimate based on a single handwritten page of notebook paper.
“It is important to note that there was no malicious damage,” Huebsch said at the time. “But that said, this is still a lot of money.”
The estimate covered the period from mid-February to mid-March 2011, a stretch that witnessed the biggest — and most sustained — protests in Wisconsin’s history.
Thousands of people crowded inside the building every day, hanging posters on the walls and camping out in the rotunda and hallways. Outside, tens of thousands more marched around the building, which caused some damage to the grass and grounds.
Much of the minor Act 10 damages were linked to things like tape used on the historic building’s walls, which left a residue when removed. But protesters had typically used blue painter’s tape after hearing from officials that it was gentlest on the walls and railings.
Weapons and arrests
Firearms, dangerous weapons, explosives or incendiary devices are prohibited on U.S. Capitol Grounds, the U.S. Capitol police say. That didn’t stop people from showing up armed on Wednesday.
Police said more than a dozen people linked to the riot had been arrested Tuesday and Wednesday on an array of charges, including weapons possession and assault. That was in addition to others who were arrested Wednesday evening after being found on the streets after the 6 p.m.curfew, the Associated Press and other media outlets reported.
Weapons and Molotov cocktails were recovered, and two pipe bombs were found near the U.S. Capitol grounds.
The Justice Department plans to pursue at least 55 criminal cases against the rioters.
A 70-year-old Alabama man had 11 Molotov cocktail devices “ready to go” in his truck when he was arrested during the breach and riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
“We are far from done. The rioting and destruction we saw will not be tolerated by the FBI . ... We will continue to investigate all allegations of criminal activity,” said Steven D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington office. “Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Madison Democrat, said there was virtually no comparison between the two.
“You had a president instigating a mob of people, really domestic terrorists, by the time they got to the US Capitol. Storming the police, breaking in, tearing things apart,” Pocan said. “They had people with Molotov cocktails. With firearms.”
He added, “That was significantly different than people going around, you know, with creative signs in Madison.”
There were fewer than 20 arrests at the Capitol linked to the Act 10 protests during mid-February and March 2011, and none of those arrests were linked to weapons charges.
Reason for Capitol occupation
Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were meeting to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Many have described it as an assault on the Democratic process, a coup attempt, and a national embarrassment.
The group marched to the U.S. Capitol after Trump spoke to the crowd, telling them, “We’re going to have to fight much harder.”
The riot came after weeks of Trump and others repeating false claims that widespread vote-rigging and fraud had stolen the election from him.
Protesters during Act 10 flooded into the state Capitol by the thousands in an effort to voice their opposition to Walker’s Act 10 proposal. They showed up en masse in an effort to convince lawmakers to “Kill the bill.”
“Other than there were a lot of people in both buildings looks a little similar. I think that’s where the similarities end,” said Pocan, who was a state representative during Act 10. “We still were able to operate. We were in the session in the Assembly. You know, business continued.”
Contact Mary Spicuzza at mary.spicuzza@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MSpicuzzaMJS.