Armed man sought Wisconsin governor at Capitol. After arrest he returned with loaded rifle

MADISON – A man armed with a loaded handgun demanded to see Gov. Tony Evers at the Wisconsin State Capitol on Wednesday afternoon and – after being arrested and posting bond – returned later with a loaded assault rifle, according to state officials.

Joshua "Taco" Pleasnick arrived at the state Capitol shirtless, with a leashed dog and wearing a holstered handgun, around 2 p.m. Wednesday, according to information on the incident provided to lawmakers and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Pleasnick, 43, of Madison, approached the security desk outside Evers' office and said he would not leave until he saw the governor, who was not in the building at the time, spokeswoman Tatyana Warrick told the Journal Sentinel. Police arrested Pleasnick on a charge of openly carrying a firearm inside the Capitol building, a violation of state law.

Suspect says he has 'access to a large amount of weapons'

Pleasnick returned to the state Capitol hours later, at about 9 p.m., with a loaded assault rifle after posting bail. He demanded to see the governor again and was subsequently taken into custody.

On Thursday, Madison police said Pleasnick was taken into protective custody and hospitalized.

"While being interviewed Pleasnick said he would continue coming to the Capitol until he spoke to the Governor about domestic abuse towards men," a report obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 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.

Evers addresses incident at campaign event

Evers told reporters at an event Thursday that he was unharmed and had confidence state Capitol police would continue to keep him safe.

"I'm OK. To their credit, the Capitol police took control of the situation and so it's over, but yeah, it's always something that is things you don't want to see happen, but that's why we have good people in the police departments, in the Capitol police and the State Patrol," Evers told reporters. "They're doing their great work."

The Evers administration initially refused to divulge information about what happened.

Evers was once on gunman's hit list

The incident is just the latest in a series of violent threats against public officials.

Last year, Evers appeared on a target list of a man accused of fatally shooting a retired county judge in 2022. The so-called "hit list" was found in the suspect's vehicle with names that included Evers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Jessie Opoien of the Journal Sentinel