A young man was arrested this morning as he tried to kick his way through a locked entrance to the state Capitol.
Colorado State Patrol troopers, who provide security inside the Capitol, arrested Derrick Shumate, 26, of Denver, near the east entrance, which was locked. Capt. Mark Savage said Shumate was stopped around 9:46 a.m. for repeatedly kicking a door and shouting. Savage said that no state official was singled out.
Shumate was not armed, and no weapon was found, troopers said. A window in the east door was broken during the incident.
The only public entrance into the Capitol is on the north side, in the basement where a magnetometer screens visitors.
Shumate was taken into custody in the parking lot on the east side of the Capitol. He was taken into a security office, questioned, handcuffed and taken to jail. He has been charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.
A witness described him as fairly clean cut and well-dressed. He was wearing a winter coat. He was seen crying or whimpering as he was led away in handcuffs.
According to the Associated Press, a construction worker inside the Capitol, Jeff Osenkowski, said the man appeared to be carrying a soda bottle when he tried to enter the building.
“He yelled, ‘I’m going to kill you.’ He was yelling about drugs. He pointed to me and said he was going to kill me,” Osenkowski said.
“He said people on drugs don’t feel pain. He was threatening to kill everybody,” Osenkowski said.
After troopers subdued the man, he shouted, “Kill me, kill me, give me death now,” Osenkowski said.
It was the second disruption at the Capitol in less than four months. On July 16, a state patrolman shot and killed a gunman outside Gov. Bill Ritter’s office after he displayed a weapon and said, “I am the emperor.”
Ritter was inside the office during that incident but was not injured.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
