Madison - Protesters took back control of the Capitol on Wednesday night after Senate Republicans passed a bill curtailing most collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Surging past security, the demonstrators reclaimed the Capitol rotunda - the site of nearly three weeks of continuous protests.

The scene took on the intensity and passion of the early days of the protests after senators voted on a bill Wednesday with none of their Democratic colleagues present.

Outside, protesters chanted "Let us in," banged drums and blew horns in protest and threw snowballs at windows of the Capitol.

Inside, they yelled "You lied to Wisconsin" and "Kill the Bill."

Matt Gallo, 50, of Madison, a private schoolteacher, protested the Republicans' quick vote. He stood about 20 feet from the doors of the Senate as pandemonium erupted around him.

"I think it's Machiavellian," he shouted.

"They see the polls that show Walker is in trouble, and it's their last attempt to jam this down the people's throats."

Protesters poured into the Capitol after police stopped guarding at least one entrance and outside doors were opened.

Scott Golueke of Madison said he had watched as demonstrators on the inside of the building attempted to force their way past police to the doors of the State St. entrance of the Capitol. The demonstrators were not using their arms but were attempting to walk past police as the officers attempted to drag them back.

But then the police left and the demonstrators inside the building were able to open the doors, allowing protesters to stream in, he said.

In a scene at another entrance, scores of protesters pressed against the door as two dozen police officers pushed them back.

Tim Donovan, a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker's Department of Administration, said some protesters inside opened doors for others to get in, while some also came in the windows.

"The doors were breached," Donovan said.

As the crowds grew, the decision was made to let people in rather than have a confrontation, he said.

Union leaders with the Milwaukee and Madison teachers unions and the state largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, late Wednesday urged their members to go to work in classrooms Thursday despite their frustration over the vote.

One of the union leaders, and a couple of protesters at a Milwaukee demonstration, suggested that teachers might return to Madison on Saturday for another massive demonstration.

"We are calling on our members to be in the schools tomorrow working for our students," said Mike Langyel, president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, "and we will also be at the Capitol on Saturday, fighting for our students."

Protest in Milwaukee

As demonstrators retook the Capitol in Madison, another protest started small and then grew outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

The impromptu demonstration appeared to have sparked by a message from the Citizen Action activist group - sent out not long after Republicans in the state Senate acted on the bill - and spread over Facebook and other social media. Perhaps 200 people were marching at the Milwaukee protest by 8:30 p.m.

Steve Watrous, an instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College, said he and others will head to Madison on Saturday to continue protests against the bill.

"It might be the biggest ever," Watrous said of the expected turnout.

In Madison on Wednesday, the Capitol Square was ringed by cars beeping horns. Police stood at access points to the square.

As protesters streamed into the Statehouse, a man sitting on a chair said, "Welcome to your house." The rotunda filled with demonstrators beating plastic drums and carrying an array of protest signs.

Fifteen police stood at the front of the Senate chambers. A sign there read: "Senators leave me my union. Allow me my voice."

Shortly before 10:30 p.m., Donovan, the spokesman for the Administration Department, said no arrests had been reported. Donovan said police would not force the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people in the building to leave.

He said police were concentrating their efforts on keeping people safe, rather than forcing them to leave.

Some doors damaged

"Some doors were damaged, knobs and handles broken off," Donovan said. "Some windows were either opened or broken. We can't confirm whether any window glass was broken."

But Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau), a former police officer, said he had done an inspection of the outside of the Capitol and found no obvious damage. A Journal Sentinel reporter also did a circuit of the building and found no obvious damage on the ground floor.

Donovan said it would take until at least Thursday to do a full accounting of any possible damage.

Just after 9 p.m. an official in plain clothes removed two of pairs of handcuffs locking doors of the King St. entrance from the inside. The official declined to identify himself to a Journal Sentinel reporter, but another State Patrol officer identified the man unlocking the cuffs as a law enforcement officer.

Earlier, as senators debated the legislation, hundreds inside pressed close to the Senate chambers and whistled loudly and roared their disapproval.

Dozens of police officers guarded the floor of the Senate.

Before a conference committee vote that took place before the Senate convened, one protester who was able to get inside the Senate parlor stood up and yelled:

"Take a moment. Step back from the abyss. Think about what you are doing."

Patrick Marley, Kristyna Wentz-Graff and Tom Tolan of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.