Man who brought guns to Wisconsin Capitol banned from Capitol Square area
By Kyle Jones
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MADISON, Wis. (WISC) — The man who police said brought guns to the Wisconsin Capitol and demanded to see Gov. Tony Evers was banned from the Capitol Square area Thursday.
Joshua Pleasnick, 43, of Madison is charged with carrying a firearm in a public building. During a court appearance Thursday, his signature bond was set at $500 per case.
As a condition of his bond, Pleasnick cannot possess any dangerous weapons and is banned from the Capitol Square area. He also cannot be in the area near the Governor’s Residence in Maple Bluff.
Additionally, Pleasnick is barred from being within 1,000 feet of Gov. Evers or any member of Evers’ family.
“I understand there’s a large public interest in this case,” Pleasnick’s defense attorney, Michael Covey, said during the hearing. “There seems to be a misunderstanding, a public misconception that Joshua went to the Capitol with the intent to cause harm to the governor or somebody else, and I can understand why people why people would be scared for that, but that’s not actually the case we have before us today.”
Capitol police said Pleasnick twice brought guns to the Capitol on Oct. 4 and demanded to speak with the governor about male victims of domestic abuse.
He was first arrested after he was found with a loaded handgun inside the building but he was bailed out of jail that day. Police said he then returned to the area with an assault-style rifle and vowed to keep coming to the Capitol until Evers spoke with him. Evers was not at the Capitol during Pleasnick’s first visit and the building was closed when he returned.
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Jaymes Langrehrjlangrehr@wisctv.com608-277-5241
