
The Brief
A man was found inside the Minnesota State Capitol Building Friday night and then on the grounds again Saturday morning.
Initially, the man was taken to the hospital for a mental health assessment, but was released, and he returned to the Capitol grounds.
Minnesota State Patrol says the man, 37, was taken into custody.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The man who was found naked inside the Minnesota State Capitol Building Friday night, and was found on the grounds Saturday morning has now been taken into custody.
The Minnesota State Patrol says they are conducting a "full review" to learn how the man got inside the Capitol.
Man inside State Capitol Building
What we know
According to Minnesota State Patrol Colonel Christina Bogojevic, around 11:30 p.m. Capitol Security learned through an alarm system that a man was inside the Capitol Building after hours.
When authorities found the 37-year-old man, he was "naked and nonviolent", Col. Bogojevic said in a statement. She continued to say, "it was quickly determined that he needed a mental health evaluation."
The man was then taken to Regions Hospital for a mental health evaluation, and the hospital released the man.
Then, around 7:30 a.m., the man was found on the Capitol grounds. Then he was again taken to Regions Hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Authorities say Regions Hospital then released the man for a second time. He then showed up at the Capitol for a third time, and was taken into custody.
The man is being held in Ramsey County Jail as he waits to be extradited to Wisconsin in connection with an arrest warrant there.
Col. Bogojevic says there are no current indications that the man broke into the Capitol.
"We are in the process of reviewing any video to determine his exact whereabouts while he was inside the building," said Col. Bogojevic. "The safety and well-being of everyone who works at and visits the Capitol is our top priority. We take this situation seriously and are committed to understanding how it occurred."
‘Full review’ underway
Dig deeper
The Minnesota State Patrol say they will be conducting a "comprehensive" review to learn how the man got inside the Capitol, and will make "necessary updates" to Capitol security protocols.
What they're saying
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth released the following statement regarding the man being in custody:
"While I'm grateful the offender is in custody, it should not take three incidents in 24 hours to finally be booked. In this environment of heightened security, we need to be even more vigilant, not less."
FOX 9 has reached out to the Minnesota State Patrol to confirm that the man is in custody.
Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson released the following statement regarding the incidents:
"I’m disappointed to learn that a major security breach occurred on Friday night and Saturday morning. We are living in a heightened threat environment. I expect the State Patrol and Capitol Security teams will thoroughly review what happened and give Capitol officials and staff, and the public, their assurances that this will not happen again."
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