An Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing was interrupted when Chair Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, paused the discussion over someone seeking to testify while wearing a hat with profanity insulting President Donald Trump.
The committee recessed yesterday around 1 p.m. during discussion about the first bill on the agenda. AB 34 would prohibit judges from conducting a hearing to determine if there’s probable cause to charge a law enforcement officer in a death if a DA has declined to pursue the case.
Tusler paused the hearing when someone named G Lee came up to testify while wearing a hat that said “F*ck Trump Viva Mexico.” Tusler said Lee couldn’t testify while wearing the hat because it was a violation of Assembly rules.
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Capitol Police stopped by the hearing room to address the situation during the break. But Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, said the only disruption to the hearing was their arrival, and the officers left.
Ortiz-Velez at the time called Tusler’s decision “unfortunate.”
“I think the entire situation is very regrettable,” she told WisPolitics. “I think that it’d have been less disruptive if we just would have let the gentleman continue to testify, and we would have been all out of here. I think that it’s a very slippery slope to stop anyone from exercising their First Amendment right.”
When the committee reconvened at 3 p.m., Tusler allowed Lee to testify while wearing their hat. Assembly Sergeant at Arms Anne Tonnon Byers was also present.
The Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony on AB 34. The committee was also set to discuss a constitutional amendment to prohibit orders to close or bar people from gathering in places of worship in response to a state of emergency, including a public health emergency. Republicans first introduced the measure in response to orders closing churches during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Constitutional amendments must pass both houses of the Legislature over two consecutive legislative sessions before they are placed on the ballot for voters to weigh in. AJR 10 is up for second consideration and will be on the November ballot next year pending passage this session.
