A Wisconsin lawmaker who was tackled by police while trying to get into the Capitol Thursday says the blame lies squarely with Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Wisconsin state Rep. Nick Milroy (D) said that while police "overstepped" by tackling him, ultimately Walker was to blame for creating "chaos in the state."
A judge had ruled Thursday that the Capitol must be cleared for 48 hours while it was cleaned. Protesters had been occupying the building for weeks, demanding Walker drop his effort to bust union bargaining rights.
Milroy told Raw Story that he was merely returning from dinner when officers had set about clearing the building of protesters.
"Upon returning to the Capitol, I was initially told by an officer that I was not going to be allowed entry into the building," he said. "I walked past her and up to the door and flashed my ID and another officer opened the door to allow me in."
"As I was entering the building, the first officer yelled that I wasn't going to be allowed access, and that's when an altercation broke out."
A WISH-TV video shows a gang of Capitol police tackling the state legislator.
"I don't blame the officer. I think he probably did overstep his bounds but I think there was a miscommunication," Milroy added. "These are the sort of things that happen when you have a leader that creates chaos in the state."
"I put all the blame on Scott Walker for all of the ridiculous things that have been happening in Wisconsin, and this is just another example of poor leadership by Scott Walker, you know, shutting down the Capitol to the public, denying legislators the right to enter the building to collect their personal belongings."
"I'm a veteran. I've had many veterans come up to me. I had a veteran come up to me the other day and tell me how disgusted he was that the building was not open to the people of Wisconsin. I mean, people have fought and died for their freedoms. And one of those freedoms is that the state Capitol has always been open for business during business hours," the South Range Democrat said.
"It's very disturbing that Scott Walker thinks that the Capitol is some sort of palace and he has his own palace guards guarding every entrance."
