Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, was arrested in Minocqua on criminal defamation charges

Kirk Bangstad is a prominent liberal political figure in Wisconsin and the owner of Minocqua Brewing Company.

This week he was arrested by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department on criminal defamation charges.

On Wednesday, Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, was arrested in Minocqua on criminal defamation charges.

Bangstad has been involved in a civil defamation lawsuit against the owner of the Lakeland Times for four years.

As reported last October, Forest County Judge Leon Stenz ordered Bangstad to pay $750,000 in damages following his defamatory statements against newspaper owner Gregg Walker.

Bangstad says he paid Walker $50,000 and his insurance company about $530,000 after a settlement was reached two weeks ago.

It is not yet known whether the previous defamation case has anything to do with these allegations.

This week he said he was driving through Minocqua for routine maintenance at the brewery when he was stopped by a Minocqua city police officer.

“And they said, ‘Do you know why you’re being pulled over?’ And I said, “I don’t know, because I wasn’t speeding.” And they say, ‘Well, the Oneida County sheriff told me we have to arrest you because you’ve been charged with two counts of criminal defamation.’ Bangstad said.

Bangstad says he doesn’t know details about the criminal defamation charges and that the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department wouldn’t tell him either.

“It’s very scary because when you’re locked up, I’ve never been, I’ve never been locked up before, so it was very scary,” Bangstad said.

Bangstad says he was released about two hours later.

WXPR reached out to Sheriff Grady Hartman, who said in an email that he believes it is inappropriate to comment on an ongoing criminal case and declined an interview at this time.

In Wisconsin, criminal defamation is a Class A misdemeanor when someone shares false, harmful information with others.

Bangstad said the experience with law enforcement was very scary.

“I completely agree with law enforcement. I mean, you know, I have privilege. I’m a white male who has never been in trouble, and so I generally think the police are on my side. This is the first time in my life that I’m like, ‘I don’t know if these guys are on my side because I shouldn’t be here,'” Bangstad said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a civil rights organization, has called for the repeal of criminal defamation laws.

They argue that defamation cases are handled better in civil courts and enforced arbitrarily.

Bangstad says he plans to sue in federal court as soon as possible.

He says he has a court date scheduled for Monday to discuss these criminal defamation charges.