Minocqua Brewing Company owner arrested on criminal defamation charges

The owner of Minocqua Brewing Company was arrested Tuesday in Oneida County on charges of criminal defamation. 

In a civil trial last year, Kirk Bangstad was found to have defamed the publisher of a Minocqua-based newspaper and fined $750,000 after he falsely implied that the publisher let his own brother die in order to inherit the family business. Bangstad appealed the judgment, which was the largest in state history. Bangstad settled the case this month for a total of $580,000, most of which was paid by his insurance company. 

Bangstad has not been charged by the Oneida County District Attorney. Bangstad’s attorney, Frederick Melms, said he did not have information on who Bangstad is accused of criminally defaming.

But in a video posted to Facebook Tuesday evening from his car outside of the Sheriff’s Department, Bangstad said he believes the arrest is related to the same case that led to the civil judgment. He said he believes Gregg Walker, who brought that case, “convinced” the sheriff to arrest him. Bangstad, who has in the past been embroiled in a zoning dispute with local authorities, said a network of conservatives in the region is working against him. 

Walker, who is part owner of the Lakeland Times, did not respond to a request for comment. His attorney in the civil case, Matthew Fernholz, said Bangstad’s allegation was not true.

“Gregg Walker is a private citizen who does not control anything that an elected official does, whether it’s the Oneida County Sheriff, whether it’s a judge in Oneida County, whether it’s the district attorney in Oneida County,” Fernholz said. “Gregg Walker obviously does not control any of them or tell them what to do; they make their own decisions.”

Melms said he does not know yet what the next steps will be in the criminal case, or even whether charges will be brought. He said criminal defamation is a rare charge, and argued that the statute is unconstitutional and “criminalizes speech that should be protected under the First Amendment.”

Bangstad built progressive brand and Super PAC

Bangstad, who lives in Madison, purchased Minocqua Brewing Company in 2016. A former Democratic candidate for Congress who also ran for state Assembly in 2020, he began making what he calls “progressive beer.”

He has cultivated a large email list for his frequent newsletters about politics and a fan base for some of his products among supporters of the Democratic Party.

In 2021, he launched the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, which has sponsored billboards promoting Democrats and attacking Republicans. It has also funded lawsuits targeting Wisconsin’s school voucher programs and school districts that dropped protective COVID-19 measures, both were dismissed.

According to data from the Federal Elections Commission, the super PAC has raised about $355,000 and spent $392,000 this year through Sept. 30. By federal law, a super PAC cannot donate directly to political candidates but can spend unlimited sums on “independent expenditures” that advocate for candidates or issues.

Bangstad’s super PAC has spent zero dollars on these independent expenditures this year, according to FEC data. Virtually all of the organization’s budget is listed as going to “operating expenditures” that are not itemized.

Argued statements should be protected speech

According to court documents in the civil defamation case, Bangstad in social media posts claimed Walker had committed elder abuse against his aging father, called Walker a “crook” and a “misogynist” and claimed that he “allegedly stood by and did nothing while his brother accidentally fell from a tree stand and died” because Walker wanted to inherit the Lakeland Times.

That false claim stemmed from a 1987 hunting accident. Walker, who was 17 at the time, was not present with his brother.

Bangstad argued that Walker is a public figure, which would entail a higher legal standard to prove defamation.

The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged criminal defamation laws, including in a New Hampshire case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in October declined to hear it. The organization says such laws “have no place in a democracy,” and that civil lawsuits are “fully capable of addressing the harms caused by defamation.”