Walker Defends New State Capitol rules

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Governor Scott Walker is defending new rules at the State Capitol that have resulted in numerous citations being issued to protestors.

The new chief of the state capitol police has been cracking down on some protestors who do not have a permit, arresting them and issuing citations. In some cases, the tickets were issued at people’s homes or workplaces.

Governor Walker says the chief is just enforcing the law. ‘Well the law is law. I mean, the law is I have a right to freedom of speech, but I don’t have a right to yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. And I think that’s the principal there, that people have a right to speak; but so do the children that come fourth grade every year, so do the people work in the capitol, so do the people who come to the capitol who don’t want to be there. They have every right to be there as well. This is an appropriate balance.”

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Now lawyers are gearing up to help some people fight their citations. Some additional protestors have shown up just to protest the new rules.And Wednesday, seven Democratic state lawmakers signed a letter wondering if the Walker team is just trying to silence dissent. Some are also questioning the state’s decision to install 482 so-called panic buttons in the capitol, at a cost to taxpayers of $103,000.