Agents with the Wisconsin Department of Revenues Division of Alcohol Beverages, accompanied by officers from the Minocqua Police Department, descended on the Minocqua Brewing Company taproom Thursday afternoon and began removing case after case of beer from the premises.
According to WND, video footage and eyewitness accounts show state revenue agents and local police loading alcohol into government vehicles as at least two Minocqua squad cars and four or five state vehicles remained parked outside the far-left brewery. The scene unfolded at the taproom owned by outspoken progressive activist Kirk Bangstad, whose business has long doubled as a vehicle for Democrat politics and anti-Trump agitation.
Reports indicate that the seized inventory consisted largely of canned beer brewed in Illinois and then sold or stored at Bangstads Wisconsin taprooms without the required state permits or payment of Wisconsin excise taxes. The allegations center on whether Bangstad attempted to operate across state lines while sidestepping the regulatory and tax obligations that every other law-abiding brewer in Wisconsin is expected to meet.
According to one account, Bangstad, who recently launched a campaign for governor but to get on the ballot, said in a public post to supporters that the DORs Division of Alcohol Beverages seized about half of the beer he sells after an inspection of his taprooms in Minocqua and Madison after he had not obtained the proper permits or paid taxes in Wisconsin to sell and store beer brewed in Illinois. That admission undercuts his claim that this is a mere paperwork misunderstanding and instead points to a prolonged failure to comply with basic state law.
Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman confirmed to The Lakeland Times that the Department of Revenue was conducting an investigation at the brewery. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue is responsible for enforcing state alcohol regulations, including licensing, tax collection, and compliance with public-safety rules.
In a statement to The Lakeland Times, the DOR said, We can confirm that, pursuant to an application before the division and consistent with the departments standard practices and procedures, the department inspected Minocqua Brewing Company premises. The agency emphasized that its actions were not ad hoc but followed established protocols triggered by a formal application and subsequent review.
Based on a complaint the division received last year, the department has been discussing concerns with the Minocqua Brewing Company and its legal counsel for several months toward reaching a path toward compliance. That timeline suggests the state did not rush to punitive measures but instead attempted to work with Bangstad before resorting to a seizure of product.
At this time, this is an active law enforcement action, DOR stated. We will decline to comment on any additional specifics due to the ongoing nature of this investigation.
The division is required to follow and implement state law, including ensuring permit holders and licensees follow all applicable laws and regulations, the DOR added. Selling alcohol in Wisconsin comes with a unique set of rules and standards designed to protect consumers, promote public health, and track alcohol beverages for tax and safety purposes.
These state laws ensure that no permit or license holder gains an unfair advantage by bypassing tax obligations or by evading safety protocols, the agency concluded. In other words, the state is signaling that politically connected progressives are not entitled to a separate set of rules while conservative or apolitical small businesses shoulder the full regulatory burden.
Bangstad, however, is casting himself as the victim, claiming that the seizure of roughly $25,000 worth of inventoryabout half his beeramounts to malicious harassment over what he characterizes as a $500 tax dispute. He is threatening to sue Democratic Governor Tony Evers administration and insists the enforcement action is politically motivated retaliation.
Ive been very critical of Corporate Democrat Tony Evers over the last year for not being proactive in stopping Trumps regime from abusing Wisconsinites, and based my candidacy for Governor on forcing him to protect our upcoming elections from Trumps slow-burning nationwide coup, Bangstad wrote in a statement. By his own account, his failed gubernatorial bid was built on the familiar left-wing narrative that paints Donald Trump and his supporters as an existential threat to democracy.
Since my liquor lawyer has never seen this level of punishment being exacted on any of his other brewery clients before in his career, I cant help but wonder if theres someone directing these enforcement agents to come down on me extra hard as a way to teach me a lesson, he added. That claim, however, glosses over the fact that his own public statements acknowledge he had not obtained the proper permits or paid the required Wisconsin taxes on out-of-state beer.
Bangstad, a former Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly and founder of the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, has used his brewery to funnel millions into electing Democrats and advancing liberal causes. His public persona is defined by inflammatory rhetoric, particularly against Trump and his supporters, which has turned his taprooms into ideological billboards as much as places of business.
WND previously reported that Kirk Bangstad promoted a grotesque Free Beer Day giveaway for the day Trump dies, sold merchandise emblazoned with slogans such as I wish it was free beer day at Minocqua Brewing Company and Is he dead yet?, and even posted after a recent assassination attempt on the President at the White House Correspondents Dinner: Well, we almost got #freebeerday Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens. Such comments go far beyond ordinary political disagreement and underscore the depth of his hostility toward the president.
In 2024, Bangstad was again in the spotlight for alleging that Trump is ineligible to hold office for engaging in an insurrection, despite the fact that Trump has not been charged with, let alone convicted of, that crime. His eagerness to declare political opponents guilty without due process stands in sharp contrast to his own insistence that the state is treating him unfairly when it enforces clear statutory requirements on his business.
For many observers, there is a sense of poetic justice in watching a man who promised free beer the day Trump dies now watching thousands of dollars of his own product hauled away by state agents. While Bangstad cries foul and blames a political conspiracy, the facts laid out by the Department of Revenue point to a more straightforward explanation: a high-profile progressive activist who built his brand on contempt for conservatives and selective respect for the rule of law may finally be facing the same legal standards that apply to everyone else.
Login