March 10, 2011

Last night, protesters were able to enter the Capitol through the ground-floor window identified with the name Cory Mason — an Assembly Democrat of Racine.

Last night, as Meade arrived at the Wisconsin Capitol, he witnessed protesters entering the open window of the ground floor office just to the left of the stairway to the entrance of the building that aligns with Wisconsin Avenue (the center of the north side of the square). That happens in the first couple minutes of the video I posted last night.

Meade is back at the Capitol this morning and, at my request, sent me a photograph of that window to identify the legislator whose office gave after-hours access to the mob that took over the building last night.

IMG_0134

The legislator is Cory Mason, Democrat, Racine. I called his office before posting this, but only got as far as an answering machine. I left a message and will update here if I hear from them.

The state Democratic Party sent out a news release on March 2, 2011 that included a complaint about bolting the windows shut:
"If we can recall at least three Senators and regain control of the senate, we can end the ugly games Republicans in the legislature have played in the last few days -- unplugging phone lines, bolting windows inside the Capitol shut, and withholding the paychecks of Democratic legislators," wrote Democratic party chairman Mike Tate on March 2, 2011.

Bolting windows? We called Tate to ask for an explanation, but he didn’t respond.

Earlier in the week we saw some pictures tweeted showing what appeared to be bolts in wooden windows. You can see them here, here and here. We e-mailed the account that sent out the pictures but did not receive a reply. We also saw an earlier blog posting from the AFL-CIO that claimed Capitol windows were being welded shut. More about that below.

So we asked the governor’s office. What’s going on with the Capitol windows?

The answer: The windows on the ground level and first floor are being secured, said Tim Donovan, a spokesman for the Department of Administration. 
So window security has been a big deal over there in the last couple weeks. The breach of that security last night, which was part of the re-occupation of the Capitol (in violation of the court order) is a big deal. I want to know the details of how Cory Mason's office became a point of entry last night.

ADDED: Dialogue from last night's video, taken just outside the Cory Mason's window:
"They don't want to get this representative in trouble."

"What's to lose anymore, man?"

"What's up with that shit?"

"They let a few in but they said..."

46 comments:

Unknown said...

You are doing the work the media refuses to do. Kudos.

Triangle Man said...

Sorry for the OT post, but I was interested to see mentioned in a story linked from the front page of the UW website.

Anna said...

If Cory wants to support working families that pay the taxes that give him his salary, he would not be supporting the unions. Then again, this assumes Cory is working for the people; obviously Cory is not.

By opening the window, Cory became an accessory to all the acts of vandalism that occurred last night. Prosecute to the fullest extent.

Sprezzatura said...

"I want to know the details of how Cory Mason's office became a point of entry last night."

I blame the snowplow operators.

Those guys (and Soros) are pulling all the strings.

MadisonMan said...

I'm also curious. I assume there are rules -- and maybe even laws -- about allowing after-hours access, and that they were broken. I wonder what the penalty is?

A better question would be: Was it Mason who opened the floodgates, so to speak, or a staffer or a visitor?

Lincolntf said...

Well, I suppose I could guess how that window happened to be used as an entry point for protesters. But why bother? The Assemblyman (or some aide) will simply lie and claim the "teabaggers" set him up. Doesn't matter, we all know what's going on in there. Meade is a true scourge of the scoundrels.

kent said...

WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS RECEIVE DEATH THREATS- Justice Dept. Investigating

EXCERPT: "Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks. Please explain to them that this is because if we get rid of you and your families it will save the rights of 300,000 people [...]"

Read the whole thing.

Marilee said...

So now you have the reason the windows were bolted in the first place. Were there indidents like this before that prompted the initial bolting?

Marilee said...

incidents.. arrgh

kent said...

The Other Loser In Wisconsin - Law Enforcement Credibility

EXCERPT: "But it was clear Wednesday night, after thousands descended on the Capitol in reaction to the Senate vote on removing most collective bargaining rights, that police were not going to try to stop protesters from entering what was supposed to be a building closed for the night.

"Keep in mind, there is a court order that the building would be shut after regular business hours, yet law enforcement did nothing to enforce that court order."

I'm a Shaaaaark said...

WISCONSIN REPUBLICANS RECEIVE DEATH THREATS- Justice Dept. Investigating

Well, I'm shocked.

Kevin said...

Send Mason a bill for the policing and cleanup costs.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Democrats must cheat to win.

I'm a Shaaaaark said...

Because of your actions today and in
the past couple of weeks I and the group of people that are working with me
have decided that we've had enough. We feel that you and the people that
support the dictator have to die. We have tried many other ways of dealing
with your corruption but you have taken things too far and we will not stand
for it any longer. So, this is how it's going to happen: I as well as many
others know where you and your family live, it's a matter of public records.
We have all planned to assult you by arriving at your house and putting a
nice little bullet in your head. However, we decided that we wouldn't leave
it there. We also have decided that this may not be enough to send the
message to you since you are so "high" on Koch and have decided that you are
now going to single handedly make this a dictatorship instead of a
demorcratic process. So we have also built several bombs that we have placed
in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent.


Damn.

Christopher in MA said...

To paraphase Insty, I don't want to hear another goddamn word from the treasonous fucks on the left about civility.

chuckR said...

from Kent's link

keywords from the violent email:

dictator, corrupt, goonies, Koch, assult(sic), bullet in your head, bombs, kill you, good time in hell

Wow. Just wow. Given Wisconsin's checkered history - specifically August 1970 - I'd certainly take this seriously. Elections have consequences, including this meltdown.

MayBee said...

The rotunda intruders.

MayBee said...

Nobody means any death threats. These are the people of Wisconsin!

Anonymous said...

I'm completely worn out with the leftist mantra that they are motivated by wonderful, conscientious ideals and that this justifies any kind of childish tantrum they want to throw.

But, of course, Tea Party members must maintain decorum at all times, or their movement is completely disgraced.

Lincolntf said...

I'm about to head out for a while. Odds that this Cory Feldman character will have issued a response to Althouse's message by the time I get back?

Unknown said...

Thank you for this blog. And Thank God for the new media so that all of the facts can be reported!

test said...

Wow, the email Kent noted is alarming. You do see every leftist talking point noted: Walker's a dictator, return to Democracy, saving the left's "rights", budget deficit "you created".

It'll be interesting to see who this is. I wonder if it was a plant, but usually you can tell. I don't see any obvious misunderstanding of the left's positions.

My guess: a college kid who has convinced himself the Tea Parties are an implicit threat of violence and therefore believes it appropriate for his political opponents to be threatened as well.

traditionalguy said...

Will the insurrection aiding and abetting Dems help the Public Employee Union that owns them, or will their tactics only help Walker look good?

Almost Ali said...

I assume there are rules -- and maybe even laws

Not rules and laws, but general guidelines, and personal preferences. Besides, how can anyone blame Cory Mason for, well, anything. Who's to say the window wasn't opened by some practical joker, like Michael Moore.

So, enough about the rule of law. Because there are no rules and laws when we get right down to it.

Zachary Sire said...

LOL. Kinda like how you and Meade got those tickets from that Republican legislator who doesn't represent your district.

I'm a Shaaaaark said...

LOL. Kinda like how you and Meade got those tickets from that Republican legislator who doesn't represent your district.

Yeah, except that was legal, unlike the violation of court orders.

Maybe your seatless chaps are too tight or something, and they cut off the blood flow to your brain.

Anonymous said...

One more reason to build a moat around the castle ...

.

Ann Althouse said...

"LOL. Kinda like how you and Meade got those tickets from that Republican legislator who doesn't represent your district."

Um. Legislators have always done this. Dems and Reps. So it's kinda not the same at all. One thing is a completely ordinary normal thing that they do all the time. The other is an extraordinary breach of the norm.

retire05 said...

What is the percentage of Wisconsin residents that belong to unions? Seems to me that the Wayward 14 are simply pandering to the minority because it is the dues of that minority that fund their re-election campaigns.

There is a phrase for people like these Dems: political whores.

I also noticed that in the Dem complaint, they mentioned their own paychecks. Ah, such a reasonable mentality; they want to be paid for a job their are not doing.

And here is how brilliant the unions are: Wisconsin's Teacher of The Year was laid off due to "senority". Now, that was a really smart move. A effective teacher is laid off while other crappy teachers keep their jobs.

Tell me again how it is all about the children.

Bruce Hayden said...

Theoretically, if this were not a legislature, Cory Mason, or one of his staff, would be liable for any damage done to the building, maybe even have some criminal culpability as an accessory, and maybe even by violating the court order.

BUT, this is a legislature, and he, at least, is likely immune from at least some of this. Maybe most, if not all, of it. Much better legally, I would think, if it actually was he, and not one of his staff, would presumably would not have the same sort of legislative immunity.

Besides, this is the sort of thing that will probably get him a bunch more votes in the next election.

Unknown said...

I have a request for NMMN (New Media Meade Network).

Starting with the attorney general at one end, and a parking meter enforcer on the other, I want to know what they have to say about what happened with law un-enforcement last night. I am still willing to listen to someone officially make the case that the situation was handled by accepted standards of crowd control. (I may not believe them, but I'll let them make their case.)

KCFleming said...

Re: leftist death threats:

"Some paradox of our nature leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on to make them objects of our pity, then of our wisdom, ultimately of our coercion.
- Lionel Trilling in 'The Liberal Imagination'

Anonymous said...

I have hesitated 'til now to post this (about PBs), but, it does go to show the mindset of some of these ppl on the left anyway:

http://oi52.tinypic.com/2eejwqg.jpg


Note the delayed comment refering to the PB's and 'the TEA party is not there yet'.

I don't think they were serious, but, there it is in 'print' so to speak.

.

Anonymous said...

I read last week that the reason they used bolts to secure the windows is because they were afraid using the normal wooden slats to secure the windows could be easily broken, damaging the window frame.

Unknown said...

Handcuffing the doors shut violates all manner of fire and building codes. Prosecute every one of the idiots, especially Mason, for that.

And how about a recall drive for Mason, as well?

For those interested, Big Government has the full text, including addressees, that Shaaaark mentions.

WV "capajoi" What you certain women allow you.

James said...

Unfortunately Cory Mason is my Representative...what an embarrassment. He's a former union organizer so facilitating this kind of behavior isn't really unexpected.d

Real American said...

Another prime example of why public employee unions shouldn't be allowed to exist. They OWN these representatives! Would anyone trust the Fleebaggers to "negotiate" in good faith with their union masters on behalf of the taxpayers? Of course not! They're essentially employees of the unions themselves! They refuse to show up for work at the behest of the unions!

Here, this assemblyman is letting in the mob and 'showing solidarity" with union goons. He is supposed to represent ALL of his constituents, not just the union special interests! But he can't because THEY OWN HIS ASS!

george said...

We have crossed the Rubicon. WI had better start taking stock of how much extra prison capacity they have.

http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/03/wisconsin-republicans-receive-death-threats-justice-investigating/

All I can say is the type of thinking that is exhibited in this note is what happens when you don't watch Fox News.

Anyone want to place a bet as to whether the extremely stable person who wrote this is in some way in charge of our children? I am thinking academic or union member since they are the only ones who can make so many factual errors in such a short note. I have grad student as next in line. What better way to assure your rise in your profession than to issue death threats? It sure worked for Ayers and his ilk.

The MSM will never publish these sorts of threats against their opposition so I think it is incumbent on us to make sure they get disseminated.

Lincolntf said...

That pic of the protesters and the trooper looks like a scene from Shaun of the Dead.

"To the Winchester!"

Zachary Sire said...

@Althouse

As if you would have been given those tickets had you not been providing anti-Union, pro-Walker coverage since Day 1 of the protests?

Climbing through a window might be a more physically outrageous way to get in, but they got inside the Capitol just like Meade did, because of their political ideology.

Ann Althouse said...

"As if you would have been given those tickets had you not been providing anti-Union, pro-Walker coverage since Day 1 of the protests?"

You'd love there to be a rule that I could only get access through my representatives, since I live in Madison and they'd obviously have a motive to exclude me. Your rule is anti-access. It's also a rule that NO ONE follows. Now: explain why you embrace that rule.

....

...

...

I'm waiting. Step up and explain it NOW!

Ann Althouse said...

How long must I wait?

Stan said...

Don't Wisc teachers have to have a college degree? Don't many also have advanced degrees?

Do they really think that the public views them as "workers"? That Joe Sixpack identifies with college grads, protected by tenure, who get summers off?

Zachary Sire said...

Ascribing belief in a phony rule and asking me to respond is a convenient distraction. Nice try.

The issue isn't why some people get access and why some don't, the issue is that it's hypocritical for you to criticize people who got in to the protest because they were pro-Union when you (i.e. your husband) got in to Walker's budget address because you're pro-Walker.

Be honest and embrace your hypocrisy, Althouse.

edward said...

ZPS aka Zippy the .............

You still don't get it. Ann did what you or anyone else could have done and ASKED for tickets. While the protesters (and you?) were busy demanding some "rights" that exist only in their (and your?) imaginations. The fact that this escapes you really shines poorly on your limited cognitive skills.

Your petulance is not unlike the small child having the temper tantrum in grocery store over fruit loops.

Perhaps someday you'll grow up and join the adults..... but I won't hold my breath and I suspect neither will Ann.

SDN said...

Bruce Hayden: Most states have laws / constitutional provisions that they are immune from prosecution for any crimes while traveling to, attending, or traveling from any legislative session.

If I were a WI legislator, my standard shaving kit would have an AK-47 and 2000 rounds....

This kind of crap doesn't happen in states like TX where getting shot is a real possibility.