Federal Agents Interview Bangstad Over Post on Attempted Trump Assassination
Minocqua Brewing owner suggested members of 'resistance' should work on marksmanship.
Minocqua Brewery owner and liberal activist Kirk Bangstad addresses reporters after filing a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court seeking to block former President Donald Trump from Wisconsin ballots in 2024. Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR
Agents with the U.S. Secret Service and FBI interviewed liberal Wisconsin activist Kirk Bangstad Thursday, for a Facebook post suggesting either someone “in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship” or the latest assassination attempt of President Donald Trump was “faked.”
The post from Bangstad that drew federal investigators’ interest came Saturday night, just after prosecutors allege would-be assassin Cole Tomas Allen attempted to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to kill the president.
Bangstad, who has previously vowed to serve free beer at his Minocqua Brewing Company locations whenever Trump dies, posted on Facebook that “we almost got #freebeerday.”
“Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle,” said Bangstad. “We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
Conservatives were outraged and called for federal authorities to investigate, which they did. On Thursday, Bangstad shared a livestream video of him standing inside his brewery in Minocqua as two agents dressed in black suits arrived.
They asked Bangstad if he or anyone he knows “wants to or has made threats to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm on the president or vice president.”
“No, I do not,” said Bangstad.
His attorney can be heard telling agents that the “resistance fighters” Bangstad referred to in his post are people on the political left who are opposed to the actions of Trump’s administration.
The video shows agents taking notes and leaving shortly after. Bangstad turned to the camera and said the agents “are probably not bad guys” and “probably hate their job as much as we hate the federal government.”
“And by the way, all you MAGA guys that linked the Secret Service and the FBI, it appears that they don’t give a crap about your links, but the fact that you overwhelmed them with links probably forced them to actually come here and question me, which maybe that’s what you wanted,” said Bangstad. “So you got what you wanted.”
At the end of his video, Bangstad said the First Amendment’s free speech protection “still rules, and we’re never going to stop talking.”
When reached by WPR, he declined to comment.
A joint statement from the U.S. Secret Service and FBI confirmed their agents visited Bangstad for a voluntary interview as part of an investigation into the post.
“This is an ongoing matter, and we do not have further comment,” the statement said.
Bangstad’s post got one of his supporters who commented on it in hot water. This week, Aspirus Health announced it parted ways with an employee over a social media comment that didn’t align with its values. The firing came after Aspirus Senior Vice President Brian Kellar commented on Bangstad’s post and included a picture of him wearing a shirt with the acronym FDT, which stands for “F— Donald Trump.”
In Kaukauna, a public school teacher was placed on administrative leave for a post on the social media site X that stated he is “not impressed with recent presidential assassins,” according to Fox 11 News. The district held a closed session school board meeting on Thursday to discuss the teacher’s future with the district. No action was taken.
Federal agents interview Kirk Bangstad over post on attempted Trump assassination was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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