Multiple Brad Schimel for Wisconsin Supreme Court signs were spray painted throughout Burlington, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, and a suspect was taken into custody, Wisconsin Right Now has learned.
WRN spoke with Michael Olson, an Army veteran and letter carrier whose sign was spray painted. “People have lost their minds. It’s not on the conservative side. You don’t see us going out and torching Teslas and spray painting signs,” he said, adding that the suspect was allegedly caught on video.
Olson told WRN that the vandalism has hardened his support for Schimel, the conservative Waukesha County judge who is running on April 1 in a hotly contested state Supreme Court race. He said his neighbor’s sign was also damaged and that police told him that other Schimel signs were spray painted by the suspect throughout the community as well. We’ve contacted Burlington’s police chief and the Racine Co. DA seeking additional information.
“He’s not trying to buy his way into office. I’ve met him,” Olson said of Schimel when asked why he supports him. “I like his values and we need to keep some sanity in the court.” He said Schimel’s liberal opponent Susan Crawford was trying to “buy her way into government.”
An Army veteran, Olson said he was shocked by how far the vandal went.
“There are a lot of things I never thought I would see if you would have asked me 5 years ago,” he said.”I never would have thought I’d see the day that people are so insane.”
We also obtained this photo of another vandalized Burlington sign:
Of the suspect, he said, “The officer told me he was being transported. They did get him. He’s from Burlington. This is not the way politics should be. There’s so much division.”
Olson said that, when he left for work, the sign was fine. His wife and daughter were home when the vandal struck. He learned from his neighbor that the incident occurred after 9 a.m.
“Someone came by and spray painted my Schimel sign,” he said, noting that they left his sign for DPI candidate Brittany Kinser alone.
“I was pretty upset that somebody was so brazen that they would walk on somebody’s property,” he said.
When he first talked to the police, at first they hedged on doing anything because he didn’t pay for the sign, but then they contacted him and explained that other signs were also hit. He said that he and his neighbor are pressing charges.
“The officer said there were multiple in the neighborhood. They got him. The guy was on video doing it.”
He said he was told that police believe the “same guy was doing it by the GOP office by Menard’s” as well.
“It’s a shame someone is so brazen to do this in midday, to go on somebody’s property,” he said.
“The police have the video,” he added. “From what I did hear from the police, they said they had multiple calls on this today.”
