Criminal Defamation Charges Files Against Rural Wisconsin Right Wing Newspaper Publisher

What's good for the goose is good for the gander

My "mug shot" after being booked in the Oneida County Jail for "criminal defamation," a likely unconstitutional, archaic, and rarely-used statute in Wisconsin's Constitution.

Hi folks,
 
To those who have just subscribed to this email list from other social media channels, my name is Kirk Bangstad and I own the Minocqua Brewing Company, a progressive brewery in deep red Northern Wisconsin.

I'm working hard to make this email list into more than just a personal blog about my progressive activism in Wisconsin and a way to sell Minocqua Brewing Company products.

I'll write more tomorrow about how I'm hoping to join a larger progressive media ecosystem that syndicates well-researched and truthful journalism to those who feel that their "go-to" corporate media sources abandoned them during this last election season.

I'll also write about how I'm starting to work with other progressive companies to spread the word about how progressives can focus their purchasing power towards companies within a progressive ecosystem who align with their values. 

In short, why buy products from companies who gave money to help elect a dictator?

But today, I wanted to update you one of the most disturbing things that has ever happened to me--being handcuffed, booked, and put in jail for "criminal defamation" just a few weeks ago before the election.

For those just tuning in, these criminal defamation charges were leveled at me by right-wing newspaper publisher Gregg Walker, Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartmann, and Oneida County DA Jillian Pfeiffer over a satirical post I made that included a disclaimer explaining that the post was satire and should never have been taken as fact.

While a statute exists for "criminal defamation" in Wisconsin's constitution, it has only been used about 60 times in the last 30 years and would now likely be deemed unconstitutional given current legal precedent.

In retrospect, this episode seems like something that could very likely happen to other progressive agitators now that Trump has been elected and is clearly appointing people to top law enforcement positions who will help him take revenge on his enemies.
 
To fight back, I decided that if the sheriff and the DA were going walk arm-in-arm with a thin-skinned bully to use the legal system to drudge up an archaic, rarely used, and likely-unconstitutional state statue to harass me, then I’m was going to use the legal system to harass them right back.

Over the course of the last month, I filed 73 complaints against people who had made online posts equal to or more "unlawful" about me or my company than what I had posted about Walker. Those complaints ranged from someone posting a photo of me wearing a Hitler mustache to fake bad reviews about our food. (we haven't served food since 2020).

The 14th amendment to the US constitution gives everyone "equal protection under the law," meaning that I expected DA Pfeiffer and Sheriff Hartmann to press charges against 73 different people (and counting) for doing something equal to or more unlawful than what I did.

Two weeks ago, I was contacted by a detective at the Oneida County Sheriff's office who claimed that they would NOT be pursuing any complaints I made about people who didn't live in Oneida County, because I don't live in Oneida County. He said that at least one of the parties in a complaint has to reside in the county itself for them to pursue the case.

This is clearly a dodge on their part because I own a business located smack dab in the middle of the Town of Minocqua in Oneida County (I also have personal addresses both in neighboring Vilas County and Madison, WI).

While my lawyers are looking into whether this deflection is legal, we filed one more criminal complaint yesterday. This one was against Lakeland Times Publisher Gregg Walker himself.

Walker has published over 80 negative articles about me over the last four years, and he or his long-winded employee, Richard Moore, have used some pretty colorful language throughout that time. They've called me "Bagdad Bangstad, a "Jackbooted Liberal," and the "leader" of a violent group of "misguided thugs" intent on destroying the community, among other factually untrue and thus "defamatory" statements.

While the sheriff might throw out a number of these 74 complaints because of geographical jurisdiction, we believe there are still a great many of them that they can't ignore. If Sheriff Hartmann and DA Pfeiffer choose to not file charges against Walker et. al., we can file a motion with an Oneida County Judge to COMPEL them to.

If the judge refuses, then we'll have a pretty compelling 14th amendment case at the federal level.

If that judge actually compels the sheriff to arrest all of these people, then the Oneida County judicial system will be flooded with criminal defamation cases. There will be a lot of people put under arrest, and I'm guessing that they, along with their families, will have a pretty good reason NOT TO VOTE for whomever judge made that call in the next judicial election.

This story now brings me to “Snowflake Holiday Ale,” the beer we created to laugh off the $50K that my insurance company forced me to pay Gregg Walker to settle his civil defamation lawsuit out of court months ago.

I'm pretty sure Gregg hated the fact I made this beer in his honor and likeness, and that's why I'm guessing he talked Sheriff Hartmann into arresting me for "criminal defamation" this time around.

We've got about 40 4-packs left to sell, and if you want to celebrate the humiliation of a bully while drinking a strong 8.0% alcohol by volume holiday winter warmer with hints of allspice and cloves, this will probably be your last chance to order some.

If you'd like to contribute to our ongoing legal defense fund to stop Walker, Sheriff Grady, and DA Pfeiffer from bleeding my company dry in endless legal proceedings, please donate here.

Thats all I have for you today folks.

This "criminal defamer" has to go practice a bunch of German lieder for my concert tomorrow (Sunday 11/17) at our Madison taproom at 1 pm. Here’s a little video of my practice session last week.

The irony of being imprisoned a month ago and singing esoteric classical music tomorrow with my wonderful accompanist Susan Gaeddert is not lost on me.
 
I'll have another email for you tomorrow on the state of media and progressive shopping before I start singing.

As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with the Minocqua Brewing Company.

Together, one beer at a time, we can all band together and hopefully avoid future imprisonment for speaking our minds under the new Trump administration.
 
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC.