MINOCQUA, Wis. – After a weekend arrest on harassment and disorderly conduct charges, the owner of a northern Wisconsin brewery is organizing an attempt to shut down the Minocqua Fourth of July parade.
Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad sought members of the community to join his effort to halt the Friday parade in a Facebook post Tuesday.
“Minocqua and America don’t deserve a celebration after our local government illegally arrested and jailed peaceful teachers and doctors who were simply enjoying cold beers in our beer garden, and after our federal government passed a bill that will literally kill Wisconsinites in order to redistribute wealth to the rich,” said Bangstad in the post.
The Tuesday post comes following a series of additional posts over the weekend, showing Bangstad and other patrons of the brewery being arrested by Oneida County Sheriff’s deputies. Bangstad has been charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident involving involving the Lakeland Times newspaper and its publisher Gregg Walker.
In a video posted over the weekend, Bangstad said he was giving a “political speech” during a beer tasting event when he was approached by Walker from the Lakeland Times office across the street. A separate video taken by Bangstad shows at least one brewery patron being led away in zip ties.
The pair’s long-standing feud stems from critical editorial treatment of Bangstad’s 2020 run for state Assembly as a Democrat. In 2023, Bangstad was fined $750,000 in a civil trial after he falsely implied that Walker let his own brother die in order to inherit the family business. Bangstad appealed that decision and a settlement was reached for $580,000.
Requests for comment from the Minocqua Police Department and the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department were not returned.
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