Last night, protesters were able to enter the Capitol through the ground-floor window identified with the name Cory Mason — an Assembly Democrat of Racine.

Last night, as Meade arrived at the Wisconsin Capitol, he witnessed protesters entering the open window of the ground floor office just to the left of the stairway to the entrance of the building that aligns with Wisconsin Avenue (the center of the north side of the square). That happens in the first couple minutes of the video I posted last night.

Meade is back at the Capitol this morning and, at my request, sent me a photograph of that window to identify the legislator whose office gave after-hours access to the mob that took over the building last night.



The legislator is Cory Mason, Democrat, Racine. I called his office before posting this, but only got as far as an answering machine. I left a message and will update here if I hear from them.

The state Democratic Party sent out a news release on March 2, 2011 that included a complaint about bolting the windows shut:

"If we can recall at least three Senators and regain control of the senate, we can end the ugly games Republicans in the legislature have played in the last few days -- unplugging phone lines, bolting windows inside the Capitol shut, and withholding the paychecks of Democratic legislators," wrote Democratic party chairman Mike Tate on March 2, 2011.

Bolting windows? We called Tate to ask for an explanation, but he didn’t respond.

Earlier in the week we saw some pictures tweeted showing what appeared to be bolts in wooden windows. You can see them here, here and here. We e-mailed the account that sent out the pictures but did not receive a reply. We also saw an earlier blog posting from the AFL-CIO that claimed Capitol windows were being welded shut. More about that below.

So we asked the governor’s office. What’s going on with the Capitol windows?

The answer: The windows on the ground level and first floor are being secured, said Tim Donovan, a spokesman for the Department of Administration. 

So window security has been a big deal over there in the last couple weeks. The breach of that security last night, which was part of the re-occupation of the Capitol (in violation of the court order) is a big deal. I want to know the details of how Cory Mason's office became a point of entry last night.

ADDED: Dialogue from last night's video, taken just outside the Cory Mason's window:

"They don't want to get this representative in trouble."

"What's to lose anymore, man?"

"What's up with that shit?"

"They let a few in but they said..."