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Politics & Government

Rotunda Center Taken by Steadfast Group

Half a dozen lead the protest from the center of the Capitol.

For days now, it has been the pulse of the Capitol, the heartbeat of a protest, the epicenter of a political standstill and showdown.

It is the center of the rotunda.

Hanging over ledges and balconies, teachers, children, firefighters and college students from all over Wisconsin take instruction, direction from it.

It’s a tribe of a few, leading a band of thousands.

They have set up a camp in the center of the rotunda. They have peanut butter and blankets, bottled water and a two-liter bottle of mouthwash. They stand on buckets with bullhorns. They slam on drums, cowbells and large white buckets. Setting a constant rhythm for the protest.

They sing, clap, dance, sway, chant, all in tandem. All to the beat. It is orchestrated but without rehearsal. It is enthusiast without violence. It is grating but welcoming.

They entertain. They revel. They evangelize.

At times, no one could imagine breaking through to the center to find the origin of the beat in the middle of the rotunda, hidden by thousands of protesters.

But an opening emerged Friday evening and the center was gained.

What was found were six protesters. They order pizza. Five arrived to the center of the rotunda at 8:30 p.m. Friday night. Never losing the crowd, they chowed and snacked and sang again.

“Two days ago, I said that we are holding this ground, we don’t want counter protesters coming in and taking this ground away,” Miles Kristan, 25, said as he took a break from the circle. “This is our ground and we are not giving it up.”

Another leader of the circle was Nolan Jankowski, a 21-year-old whose mother was a Milwaukee teacher for 26 years.

"She got cancer and her pension allowed her to have a visiting nurse in her house," he said. "This bill would have ended her ability to get a visiting nurse."

Jankowski's mother died in October.

"How was I supposed to care for my cancerous mother? I couldn't. The union did," Jankowski said as he rapped on his cowbell.

Next to Jankowski was Christopher Daniel Inglis, a 21-year-old student. Inglis, whose dad was a teacher, was working on his third day in the center of rotunda.

"If they take away the foundation of education, what do they expect for the future of our kids?" he said as he pounded on a black cowbell with a worked-over drumstick.

Neither Jankowksi nor Inglis said they planned to leave the center until legislators and Gov. Scott Walker come to a resolution.

"As long as it takes. With my cowbell," Jankowski said. "I brought it to keep the beat."

Kristan said he will not leave until Walker resigns.

“Not until just now, someone brought me socks, so now I am able to change my socks,” he said.

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