Peaceful, But Tense

At 10 East Doty Street, an office building just 'off of the square' and a stone throw from the capitol building, protestors marched on Koch Industries, Inc., who has an office on the 7th floor.

At 3:45 PM, the protestors marched from the capitol square down Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. towards the Doty entrance to 10 East Doty Street with drums beating loudly and chats heard over them, "Ho, ho, the bill must go." The core of the protest only lasted an hour, but protestors remained long after the close of business when I was escorted to my vehicle. Well into the evening hours, they could be seen standing in front of the Doty Street entrance shouting to cars as people were leaving the capital and local offices. Doty Street is one of the streets in the second square around the capitol, and a main drag for people on their ways home.

From early morning hours until at least 6 PM, building security personnel stood in groups at each ingress point and along hallways throughout the building. All of the elevators were locked down requiring people to have a security pass card to access any floor, but even those with a pass couldn't access the upper floors. Guards stood at the stairway doors. When I left at 6 PM, there were people standing near the doors trying to gain access to the building.

According to reports from several tenants of the building, there had been some incidences on the 7th floor where the Koch Industries office is located. Police were called to remove protestors.

Regardless of a person's stand on the issues, the current experience of Madison is one to behold. The protests are 'peaceful' as far as protests go for those we've witnessed on TV in other countries, but that doesn't eliminate the sense of fear, perhaps due to the mere gathering together of hundreds of people chanting, beating drugs and showing emotions in their faces if not with their fists and emphasis added to their messages by throwing their arm in the air. But there also is a sense of excitement. Several people commented on the protests remarking that they were pleased to see people standing up for their rights.