Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Coup in Wisconsin

You don’t see this in Wisconsin every day. 

A group of disaffected Lac du Flambeau tribal members stormed the tribe’s government administration offices around 3 a.m. Wednesday in an attempted coup after previous demands for a new government had been ignored.

Officers from several area law enforcement agencies have converged on the scene, and police with guns and riot gear were inside the building, although there have been no reports of violence. Gov. Jim Doyle and state Attorney General JB Van Hollen have been notified of the coup attempt, and representatives of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs were also on the scene.

“Right now we are holed up in a Tribal Center room basically trying to get help to end the mismanagement, nepotism and corruption that exists within our Tribal Council,” said tribal member Brandon Thoms, speaking from a cell phone inside the building. “We’ve exhausted all efforts. We’ve called the BIA, the FBI, and the IRS and also the NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) and our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This is the last thing we could do to bring attention to what’s happening here.”

The government building has been cordoned off by police, but hundreds of tribal members have gathered in the nearby Lake of the Torches Casino parking lot.

I wonder if that would work in Madison.

(9) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1821 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Guess it has been about 33 years since the last uprising in Wisconsin - 1/1/75 to be exact - hostage taking, 34-day siege, exchanges of gunfire at the Alexian Brothers Noviate near Gresham (Shawano County).

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 26, 2008 at 1908 hrs


  2. Hmmmnnnn….the Capitol Building.

    It’s do-able.  Need around 300 people, motivated.

    Taking prisoners would be .....impolite, I think.

    Posted by dad29 on March 26, 2008 at 2005 hrs


  3. Good lord, there might be refugees even now at my in-laws’ cabin.

    Posted by james wigderson on March 26, 2008 at 2137 hrs


  4. mismanagement, nepotism and corruption Sounds like an early slogan for Doyle ‘10.

    Sure would be a shame if the funneling of his campaign cash was interrupted…he might have to unilaterally cut them another deal.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 26, 2008 at 2218 hrs


  5. While I agree with the idea of a coup at the Capitol Building, I fear for the safety of my son who works there as staff for a member of the assembly.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 27, 2008 at 1021 hrs


  6. Don’t worry.  We couldn’t be armed.  It’s against the law wink

    Posted by Owen on March 27, 2008 at 1025 hrs


  7. The real fun will be seeing how the jurisdictional elements play out.  Can the state/feds do anything on reservation lands?  Must they have some sort of a formal invitation from the Tribal Gov’t.  Oh, this could get real fun, real fast.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 27, 2008 at 1438 hrs


  8. I was one of the people who “took over” the tribal center, along with my wife, mother, and grandmother.  There were others, all brave and very heroic.  There was no way to avoid this.  Just read the Declaration of Independence.  I remember learning about that in 5th grade.

    Posted by brandon thoms on March 28, 2008 at 0040 hrs


  9. I was there, we did it!!!  Read the “Declaration of Independence”.  I learned about it in the 5th grade. 80 police from 7 different counties.  Riot gear and swat teams.  Then when we surrenderd, we wheel an 80 yr. old lady out, along with a 70, 50, 60, 50, yr.old lady, then 4 men…Ha ha…jokes on them…

    Posted by brandon thoms on March 28, 2008 at 0044 hrs


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