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The Michigan Capitol Commission is reconsidering rules that let dozens of angry protesters to bring assault-style rifles into the building Thursday, intimidating legislators and prompting some to don bulletproof vests.
Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today. #mileg pic.twitter.com/voOZpPYWOs
— Senator Dayna Polehanki (@SenPolehanki) April 30, 2020
Four of the six commissioners were appointed by Republican legislative leaders. The party controls the state House and Senate.
“We have been following the statutes,” said Michigan Capitol Commissioner John Truscott, who served as press secretary to GOP Gov. Engler.
"[But] with this being thrust in the national spotlight, it's raising a lot of questions,” he told Bridge Magazine.
Metal detectors have been used during presidential visits in the past, Truscott said. Then-President Bill Clinton, for instance, spoke at the building in the 1990s, and the Secret Service implemented several strict security measures at the time.
But in general, “our goal has been to keep the building as open as possible to the public,” he said.
According to Bridge, Democratic lawmakers have in recent years unsuccessfully proposed banning guns in the building.
