OLYMPIA, Wash – The state capitol building in Olympia was broken into and vandalized Sunday night, according to a social media post from Washington Governor Bob Ferguson.
Ferguson said someone broke into the Legislative Building and damaged several facilities and historical artifacts.
There was significant damage to the State Reception Room, he said.
According to charging documents, WSP got a call around 10:20 Sunday night.
A white Subaru was parked on the sidewalk in the flag circle of the Legislative Building.
A man had broken a window in Rep. Liz Berry’s office, leaving a large hammer on the desk.
Inside the building, troopers found several flags knocked down; some of them had been burned.
On the third floor, WSP noticed the busts of George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. had been knocked over.
Lt. Gov. Denny Heck said the person then broke a glass door and entered the State Reception Room, setting fire to several objects including the original rug which Heck described as “a priceless treasure.”
WSP arrested the man as he left the building.
He’s identified in court documents as Gunnar Schubert.
He has been booked into the Thurston County Jail on arson, burglary and malicious mischief charges.
“Over the last several years, there has been a significant escalation in both violence-tinged political rhetoric and actual violence,” Lt. Heck said in his statement. “We can continue to adapt security measures, and we will, designed to prevent and deter such incidents. The fact remains, however, that we must all do our part in turning down the temperature. Violent rhetoric, property destruction, and violence against individuals are a cancer on our democratic society.”
Heck said he hopes the building to be cleaned up by the end of the week.
“We have the most beautiful Capitol in the country,” Gov. Ferguson wrote in a post on X. “I am grateful for the quick work of our Department of Enterprise Services and the Washington State Patrol to bring this individual safely into custody.”
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
