Workers install plywood boards over the windows of the Wisconsin state Capitol Monday amid fears of political unrest by supporters of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol and at statehouses around the country ahead of next week's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
With the threat of protests at state capitols nationwide in the lead-up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, Gov. Tony Evers on Monday called on the National Guard to support the state Capitol Police.
The guard declined to disclose how many members would be mobilized or what, exactly, they would do, but the state Department of Administration began boarding up exterior ground-floor windows at the Capitol on Monday after the FBI warned of the possibility of nationwide armed protests by supporters of President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede last year's election and advanced false conspiracy theories about it being stolen from him.
After being egged on by the president, his supporters on Wednesday staged an invasion of the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were processing Electoral College votes.
The National Guard troops are part of its Reaction Force, which consists of troops trained to respond to requests for assistance on short notice. The Guard will serve in a support role to local authorities and conduct a site security mission.
The Department of Administration, which oversees the Capitol Police, also declined to share details of their security plan, in order to ensure the safety of the public and officers.
The Madison Police Department in a statement said that it “will have enhanced staffing capacity available as needed to address protest activity.”
The department “is committed to facilitating the expression of community members’ First Amendment rights while maintaining public safety,” it said. “Balancing these goals and maintaining a safe environment under these circumstances is challenging.”
Dane County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said deputies would help Capitol Police if asked.
The Capitol has been officially closed to the public since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March, but lawmakers do provide limited space for members of the public who want to observe floor debates and committee meetings.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, a soldier who fought for the Union Army, is photographed on the anniversary of his death, Sept. 19, 2008, in Madison.
The statue of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, commander of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, pictured here in 1950.
Norwegian-born Col. Hans Christian Heg of the 15th Wisconsin Infantry was mortally wounded fighting for the Union Army on Sept. 19, 1863, and died the next day. This statue of Heg by Norwegian-American sculptor Paul Fjelde, shown here in 1990, was erected in 1926.
Portrait of Col. Hans Christan Heg, commander of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
A lithograph titled "Charge of the 15th Wisconsin Regiment at Chickamauga; death of Colonel Heg," shows the mortal wounding of Hans Christian Heg.
Hans Christian Heg's death is reported in the State Journal on Sept. 29 1863.
Chickamauga National Military Park in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, is pictured here in 2013. The location is near where Wisconsin's Col. Hans Christian Heg would have fallen on the battlefield.
State Journal story on Sept. 23, 1924
Story from the State Journal on Oct. 18, 1926
View from the east corner of the state Capitol looking past the Hans Christian Heg statue with King Street in the background, circa 1936.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg pictured outside the Capitol on Nov. 11, 1997.
Giorgio Gikas, president of Venus Bronze Works Inc., Detroit, uses a pressure washer July 15, 2002, to clean the statue of Hans Christian Heg that sits on the Capitol Square on the corner of South Pinckney Street and Main Street. This is the first stage of the cleaning and then waxing that takes almost a day to complete. Heg was the most noted Norwegian-American to serve in the Civil War.
Lisa McLaughin of Madison tries to fit a Solidarity T-shirt on the statue of Hans Christian Heg on Capitol Square on March 12, 2011. Tens of thousands of people crowded outside the Capitol during Act 10 protests.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg is covered in at the State Capitol is covered in snow in Madison on Feb. 2, 2016.
Two protesters carry a leg from a statue of Hans Christian Heg, a Union Civil War colonel who fought for the end of slavery, during demonstrations in Madison on Tuesday. Protesters also tore down the state's "Forward" statue, assaulted a state senator and set a small fire in a city building Downtown.
The base of a statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, a Union Civil War colonel who fought for the end of slavery, remains after it was torn down by protesters during demonstrations in Madison on Tuesday night.
Protesters dump a statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg into Lake Monona on Tuesday night in Madison.
An empty pedestal where the statue of famed abolitionist Col. Hans Christian Heg once stood. It was a scene from around the State Capitol on Wednesday after a destructive night of protests.
The head of the Col. Hans Christian Heg statue is still missing and will likely need to be recast from an existing statue in the Racine County town of Norway.Â
The recovered remains of the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, after it was torn down last month.Â
