A man found naked in the Minnesota Capitol Senate chamber late Friday was seated in the Senate president’s chair and told officers he was the governor, according to a felony charge filed Tuesday.

Minnesota State Patrol troopers arrested Dominic T. Peace, of Minneapolis, on Saturday night, after he’d been taken to the hospital twice for mental health evaluations and apparently released. He then returned to the Capitol grounds two more times, the State Patrol said.

The case comes at a time of increased attention on Capitol security, since two lawmakers were shot at their homes in June. Rep. Melissa Hortman and husband Mark Hortman were killed at their Brooklyn Park residence, and Sen. John Hoffman and wife Yvette Hoffman were critically injured in shootings at their Champlin home. A man has been federally charged.

After the weekend incidents with Peace at the Capitol, the State Patrol said in a statement they’ll “be conducting a comprehensive review to determine how this happened and make any necessary updates to Capitol security protocols.”

Man told officers he lived at Capitol

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Peace, 36, with second-degree burglary of a government building. Prosecutors gave the following information in a criminal complaint:

Capitol security officers contacted the State Patrol about 11:15 p.m. Friday on “an emotionally disturbed person,” identified as Peace, who they found in the Senate chamber.

“Peace stared to the back of the room in a manner leading the officers to think he was in an altered state of mind,” the complaint said. “Peace told the officers that the Capitol was his house, and he had lived there all his life. Peace said his clothes were in an upstairs closet.”

Officers escorted Peace outside and medics took him to the hospital.

A trooper noted the area where Peace was found “had been rummaged through and desk drawers were left open,” the complaint said. “Peace’s clothing was later found in a women’s restroom. Standing water was on the floor of the restroom where Peace’s clothes were found. It appeared Peace had bathed in the restroom.”

Surveillance video showed Peace was inside the Capitol shortly before 2 p.m. Friday. Half an hour later, he was seen on video carrying a wooden wedge inside the building and then seen without the wedge a short time later.

The Capitol is open to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays.

“It appears Peace used the wedge to prop open an exterior mechanical door that allowed him to gain entry to the Capitol after hours that evening,” the complaint said. He returned to the Capitol about 9:45 p.m. Friday and entered from the mechanical room’s interior door.

Evaluation pending in another case

Peace later agreed to talk to a trooper, who asked him how he got into the Capitol. He replied that a helicopter was needed to get to the top “and he takes a ladder down to the living part. Peace said a secret organization meets and makes decisions about the world in the lower part, but no one has been there since 2000 when he left for Italy,” the complaint said.

“Peace said he sleeps naked in his own house, and he left his clothes upstairs,” the complaint continued. “… Peace said the house was in his name, and his name is everywhere inside. When asked what he did in the Senate chamber, Peace said he woke up in his daddy’s chair. Peace said his daddy is Jesus and his momma is Mary.”

He said he looked around for keys to get out of the chamber, but didn’t find any and moved items around when looking for keys.

Peace said he’d returned to the Capitol, “but no one had a way to get him back to the top to get home,” according to the complaint. “Peace said some bozos brought him to jail. Peace said it was his jail.”

Last Tuesday, St. Paul police had arrested Peace at the Midway Target and he was charged with entering the building with intent to steal, misdemeanor theft and trespassing. He had a warrant from Wisconsin related to misdemeanor fraud against a financial institution.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said that Wisconsin law enforcement would only extradite within Wisconsin, so he couldn’t be held on the warrant. He was out of jail on Thursday on conditional release.

On Saturday, “State Patrol officials worked throughout the day with Wisconsin officials on the extradition issue,” the State Patrol said in a statement, which is how the warrant was changed to allow him to be extradited from Minnesota. He was arrested Saturday night when the State Patrol said authorities saw he’d returned to the Capitol grounds a third time, and was held in the Ramsey County jail on the warrant.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections subsequently notified the Ramsey County jail on Tuesday that they will not extradite him for the warrant. He remained jailed Tuesday on the burglary charge.

Peace is due to make his first court appearance on the new charge Wednesday. An attorney wasn’t listed for him in the court file as of Tuesday afternoon.

Peace was charged on June 2 with felony auto theft. An evaluation to determine whether he has a mental illness or cognitive impairment to proceed in that case is pending.

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