(KNSI) – A 36-year-old man who was removed from the State Capitol three times, including once while he was completely naked, is now behind bars.
A press release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety says State Patrol troopers arrested the suspect just before 7:30 Saturday evening after he returned to the Capitol grounds for the third time. He’s being held at the Ramsey County jail while authorities work out his extradition to Wisconsin, where he’s wanted on an outstanding warrant.
The release says everything started Friday night around 11:30 when alarms went off at the Capitol, alerting security that someone was inside the building after public hours. When security found the man, he was not being violent but wasn’t wearing any clothing, and it was clear he needed a mental health evaluation. He was taken to Regions Hospital for an evaluation, and the hospital apparently released him afterward.
Then Saturday morning around 7:30, he showed up again on the Capitol grounds, though not inside the building this time. He was taken back to Regions Hospital for another mental health evaluation. Once again, the hospital released him. When he came back Saturday evening for a third time, he was finally arrested.
The incident happened just over a month after the fatal shooting of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot. They are both expected to recover.
State Patrol Chief Christina Bogojevic says keeping everyone at the Capitol safe is their number one concern. She says they’re taking this seriously and looking at whether they need to beef up security measures at the building.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring released a statement after legislators were informed of the breach. She said it is “frustrating that an individual with a criminal history was able to allegedly vandalize the Capitol and unlawfully trespass in the Senate chamber without being taken into custody.” Demuth added, “Anyone who trespasses in any building — let alone the State Capitol — should be arrested and prosecuted for breaking the law, and I look forward to learning why this did not take place in this highly disturbing incident.”After he was arrested following the third incident, she issued another statement, saying, “While I’m grateful the offender is in custody, it should not take three incidents in 24 hours to finally be booked. In this environment of heightened security, we need to be even more vigilant, not less.”
Investigators are trying to figure out exactly how he got into the Capitol building Friday night. They’re looking at security footage and conducting a full review of what happened. At this point, there’s no evidence he actually broke in, but they want to know his exact movements while he was inside.
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