Police: No more sleeping bags in the Wis. Capitol

MADISON, Wis.  Police officers handed out fliers Friday saying they plan to restrict access to the Capitol as protesters geared up for another round of weekend demonstrations over the state budget battle.

Police told protesters who have been camping inside the Capitol building for eight days that they will begin collecting sleeping bags, coolers and folding chairs in an effort to return the Capitol to normal business hours Sunday night.

"We are closing the Capitol for a short period of time for public health reasons, as well as for general building maintenance," Chief Charles Tubbs of the Wisconsin Capitol Police said in a statement issued late Friday. "Everyone agrees that our State Capitol is a source of pride for our state and that we should take a break to take care of the building."

Protesters who have lived there for several days say they¹re prepared to stage non-violent resistance if police try to clear them out.

Bridget Peterson of Duluth, Minn., has been camping inside the Capitol for eight days. "People are going to want to fight this somehow even if we lose this space," she said.

Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly took the first significant action on Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip collective bargaining rights from most public workers, abruptly passing the measure early Friday morning.

The vote ended three straight days of punishing debate in the Assembly, but the fight is far from over. Senate Democrats who have fled to Illinois to prevent a vote in that chamber say they won't return unless Walker agrees to discuss a compromise.

By Scott Olson, Getty Images Hundreds of people have been living in Wisconsin's Capitol 24 hours a day to protest the governor's budget plans.

On Friday, Walker didn't sound conciliatory.

During an afternoon appearance in Green Bay, he said, although "we got to find a way to make it comfortable for those 14 senators to come back home," Republicans had no intention of backing off the main tenets of the bill.

Walker's plan contains a number of provisions that he says are designed to fill the state's $137 million deficit, including requiring public workers to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance and strip them of their right to collectively bargain benefits and work conditions.

Tens of thousands of people have jammed the Capitol since last week to protest, pounding on drums and chanting so loudly that police providing security have resorted to earplugs.

Hundreds of people have been living in the building 24 hours a day to protest the plan.

Demonstrators dragged in air mattresses and blankets and sleep on the building's marble floors between never-ending rounds of chants, marches and drum circles. The scene inside resembles a small village with stands and food stations.

Police began circulating the fliers that outline the crackdown Friday morning. In a statement, Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, asked the governor to keep the building open.

"The law enforcement officers from across the state that have been working at the Capitol have been very impressed with how peaceful everyone has been," Palmer said.

He called on police officers to join the sleep-in at the Capitol.

Protesters plan to go ahead with a rally scheduled for Saturday.

Demonstrators have been conducting non-violent civil disobedience training to plan for the day when the Capitol is cleared. While some activists said Friday that they will leave willingly if asked, many others say they will have to be carried out.

"You can't carry out 2,000 people," said Will Adams, a student from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. "Or maybe you can."

Numerous signs hung by activists remind demonstrators that "this is a peaceful protest."

Peterson said demonstrators and police have not had any problems so far. She said she thinks everyone is cool-headed enough to keep things non-violent no matter what the authorities do.

"I really, really hope so," she said.

Jones also reports for The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis. Contributing: Associated Press