Eye On Illinois: In Minnesota, Capitol security found to have gaping holes

We’re on the road, taking the 17-year-old on his first real round of college visits.

Illinois schools are in the mix. But we’re in the one short window between baseball and school starting, meaning this journey also doubles as a family vacation. Which is to say I’m writing this Sunday morning in the Nokomis neighborhood of Minneapolis after a visit to Target Field, the Mall of America and a few Juicy Lucy cheeseburgers.

As is custom when on the road, I like to take in the local news and compare it to our home state. Our first stop was Thursday at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and there’s probably a lot to say about that day’s big headline, per The Associated Press: “Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won’t seek third term in battleground state.”

But frankly, I was much more compelled by the top AP headline from our current location: “Man with mental health issues found naked in Minnesota Capitol, raising new security concerns.”

Longtime Dave Barry fans could imagine the Miami Herald humorist getting an entire column out of such an absurdity, but the AP’s Steve Karnowski offered the essential context:

“The discovery just six weeks after the fatal shooting of Democratic former House Speaker Melissa Hortman prompted the top House and Senate Republican leaders to demand answers about how it happened and what steps might be taken to prevent it from happening again.”

The fact that the incident had already drifted from my mind despite knowing we’d planned a visit to the capital city perhaps underscores the point of my June 19 headline: “We’ve long been numb to the normality of political violence.”

The details of this week’s story are indeed concerning: Someone found the man in the Senate chamber about 11:30 p.m. Friday. He believed himself to be the governor “and was found disrobed,” according to Capitol staff. The current belief is that he entered the Capitol during its open hours. State Patrol officers are reviewing security footage to see if they can trace his steps. Police now know he has an active Wisconsin warrant for violating probation, but didn’t figure that out until they lost contact.

Although responders took the man to a St. Paul hospital Friday night, staff there deemed him nonthreatening and granted his release. He returned to the grounds at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and was returned to the same hospital.

There’s no suspected connection between this incident and the June 14 targeted shootings, but all state government officials are understandably in a perpetual condition of heightened concern.

It’s impossible to plan for every outlandish scenario, but this incident clearly demonstrated that Minnesota Capitol security protocols have a few holes worth patching. Hopefully, Springfield’s systems are a little tighter than St. Paul’s.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.