Madison man accused of taking assault rifle to Wisconsin Capitol charged with misdemeanor

MADISON - A Madison man who earlier this month was arrested after bringing a handgun and an assault rifle to the Wisconsin State Capitol while demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers has been charged with a misdemeanor.

Joshua Pleasnick, 43, was charged Monday for carrying a firearm in a public building. He will appear in Dane County Circuit Court on Thursday.

On Oct. 4, Pleasnick arrived at the state Capitol shirtless, with a leashed dog and wearing a holstered handgun, according to information from the Wisconsin Capitol Police Department that was provided to lawmakers the following day and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"While being interviewed Pleasnick said he would continue coming to the Capitol until he spoke to the Governor about domestic abuse towards men," the report said. "Pleasnick stated he did not own a vehicle and it is likely he has access to a large amount of weapons and is comfortable using them."

"Use extreme caution when in contact with Pleasnick. He should be considered armed," Capitol police officials told lawmakers in an alert.

Pleasnick, who police said goes by the nickname "Taco," was arrested after approaching the security desk outside of Evers' office inside the state Capitol, Department of Administration spokeswoman Tatyana Warrick told the Journal Sentinel. He said he would not leave until he saw Evers. Police arrested the man for openly carrying a firearm inside the Capitol building, which is a violation of state law.

Pleasnick returned to the state Capitol about 9 p.m. with an assault-style rifle after posting bail at the Dane County Jail. He demanded to see the governor again and was again taken into custody.

Lawmakers were not notified of either incident until the morning of Oct. 5.

The incident comes after Evers appeared last year on a target list of a man accused of fatally shooting a retired county judge. The so-called "hit list" was found in the suspect's vehicle with names that included Evers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Pleasnick faces nine months in jail, $10,000 in fines, or both.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man charged with misdemeanor in gun incident at Wisconsin Capitol