Chaos erupts at Wisconsin immigration hearing as Democrat tries to grab chairman's gavel

MADISON, WISCONSIN: A Wisconsin state Senate hearing on immigration descended into chaos when the committee’s top Democrat lunged at the chairman’s gavel, called Republicans “cowards,” and even questioned their faith.

It all went down inside the State and Federal Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen Chris Kapenga, R-Oconomowoc, who later told Fox News the moment was a clear warning of what happens when lawmakers ditch decorum. The pandemonium was caught on camera by the Wisconsin Eye.

“It shows how quickly discourse can spiral,” Kapenga said.

False migrant story sparks chaos at Wisconsin Senate hearing

The trouble began when ranking Democrat Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, opposed a GOP-backed bill banning public funds for healthcare for illegal immigrants.

Carpenter leaned on a story just told by his fellow Milwaukee Democrat, Sen Chris Larson, about a migrant woman who was initially lawfully present but later deported. Larson claimed the woman died after she couldn’t refill a prescription once her private insurance lapsed.

The problem with that story is that she was very much alive. Larson later apologized for botching the facts, and Kapenga publicly praised him for owning up. But during the debate, Carpenter doubled down on the faulty story to push his point.

Kapenga, a former Senate president, said the committee wasn’t there to litigate individual cases. “Gentlemen, that’s outside the scope of the bill,” he snapped when Larson also tried dragging President Donald Trump’s immigration policies into the mix. 

Wisconsin Senate erupts as Tim Carpenter blasts GOP immigration stance

Bill sponsor Sen Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, tried to steer the discussion back to the legislation. He reminded the room that, "Anybody who is here that is not a citizen, here as a temporary resident; they are here on a visa or whatever, they always have their ability… to be here be revoked."

“It could be by the president or by Homeland Security, for certain, there’s all different reasons why that ability for them, that privilege for them to be here could be terminated,” Wanggaard said.

Carpenter wasn’t having it. He accused President Donald Trump of deporting far more than just “violent criminals.”

"We were told by the president that only the violent criminals were going to be deported… That’s not all that’s happening… so when you're bringing this up and saying, ‘Hey, look you can't have any medical care for people that are being detained,’ that's wrong: it’s unchristian, it’s immoral," said Carpenter.

As Kapenga tapped his gavel, Carpenter barked back: “Don’t interrupt me,” he said. Kapenga shot back, saying lawmakers can’t attack each other’s character, referring to Carpenter’s “unchristian” remark. 

Tim Carpenter lunges for gavel amid heated immigration fight

Things only got worse. Carpenter subsequently spun into a rant about federal policy and past deportations of Mexican immigrants. Kapenga kept banging his gavel until Carpenter lunged for it.

“You’re too cowardly to let me speak… the truth about this situation,” Carpenter fumed.

“If you have a specific question about their specific bill…” Kapenga began, before Carpenter cut him off with a blunt “BS.” The crosstalk spiraled until co-sponsor Rep Alex Dallman, R-Green Lake, jumped in to note that “red states and blue states” alike had passed similar laws.

Carpenter shot back that Republicans were “so afraid of this information” and claimed he’d win the fight on the full Senate floor. He then twisted the knife by mocking Kapenga’s prior stint as Senate president.

“Gentlemen, we’re done,” Kapenga calmly said, gaveling the hearing to a close.

Wisconsin lawmaker stresses debate over violence

After the dust-up, Kapenga told Fox News he had no interest in humiliating colleagues with the viral clip.

“I’m not sharing the video because this isn’t about embarrassing individuals,” he said. “This is about choosing decorum and the use of measured words to persuade those of opposing opinion. Sharing stories with false information to incite fear, name-calling, aggression. We all know the dangerous place that’s leading society.”

Kapenga added, “The upswell in the movement Charlie Kirk started shows Americans are passionate about the freedom to debate ideas, not rhetoric and violence.”  

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