Gov. Walker: Sing on, Wisconsin - but only on certain days
Gov. Scott Walker's administration on Friday granted protesters a permit to sing in the Wisconsin state Capitol for three days next month.
Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch says Tom Kasper of Madison requested a permit for the singers to sing in the rotunda in Madison. The application asked for a permit with no end date, reports Minnesota Public Radio.
In a letter to Kasper on Friday, Capitol Police Deputy Chief Daniel Blackdeer said the permit doesn't indicate a start or end date, according to the Associated Press. He said the administration can't grant a permit allowing a group to use the rotunda indefinitely. Blackdeer instead granted a permit for Sept. 9, Sept. 11 and Sept. 12.
Kasper's application sought a permit allowing the "Kapital Singerz," as he spelled it, to use the Capitol rotunda every weekday with no end date for the purpose of "singing, humming by musically-challenged," reports the La Crosse Tribune.
The protesters, of course, are smelling a rat. For instance, no one can get a hold of this Kasper cat.
An outgrowth of the 2011 protests of Walker's polices in 2011, Capitol Police officers launched a crackdown against the singers last month after a federal judge ruled that police can require groups larger than 20 to obtain a permit to gather in the space.
The protesters argue they don't need a permit to exercise their free speech rights. They also contend that they have no leader, so no one can assume liability for any potential damage, which is one of the permit's conditions.
Officers have made more than 300 arrests since the crackdown began.
Just Tuesday, felony charges were announced for one singer, and there were 30 arrests in one day last month.