MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – People are being allowed back inside the Wisconsin State Capitol after it was evacuated due to a bomb threat Wednesday.
Around 3:45 p.m., Capitol Police notified lawmakers debating the state budget in the Assembly chambers that they would need to leave immediately due to a “credible bomb threat.”
“I have heard that apparently it was a credible bomb threat,” Rep. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) said when reached on his cell phone outside the Capitol building. “So the entire Legislature is surrounding the Capitol Square on both sides.”
Authorities also evacuated people who were starting to gather on the lawn of the Capitol building ahead of an evening music concert.
At 5:35 p.m., an email from the Department of Administration stated that, “the State Capitol has been given an all clear by the State of Wisconsin Capitol Police. It can now be reentered.”
Members of both parties spent their time conversing, including some choosing to do so over adult beverages at a nearby tavern.
Jacque says that leadership both set out for 11-and-a-half hours of debate on the two-year state budget and all amendments being proposed. He added it would happen no matter how long the evacuation was going to last.
