Charges: Knife, threats stuck in Minnesota Capitol podium
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - A Minneapolis man is accused of sneaking into the Minnesota State Capitol chambers and stabbing a knife into the clerk’s podium, along with threatening notes. Robert Joseph Anderson, 47, is charged in Ramsey County with burglary and threatening violence.
According to the charges, Anderson entered the Capitol through a construction zone Tuesday night and pinned several pieces of paper to the podium with a knife. The documents included a restraining order and notes that referenced religion, war on his family and murders.
The House of Representatives assistant sergeant at arms encountered Anderson in the chambers and questioned him. Anderson said he was there to see a particular senator and “he instructed her not to take his signs down.” By the time Capitol police were called, he was gone.
Anderson was later arrested at his home and booked into the Ramsey County Jail. A family member said he recently went to rehab for meth addiction.