Naked Man Found In MN Senate Chamber After Sneaking Into Capitol: Police

ST. PAUL, MN — A Minneapolis man was found naked late at night in the Minnesota Senate chamber after he snuck into the Capitol using a wooden door wedge, according to a felony complaint filed in Ramsey County.

Dominic Terell Peace, 36, is charged with second-degree burglary for unlawfully entering a government building and committing theft.

Peace is currently being held in the Ramsey County jail. He is also facing unrelated charges, including shoplifting and felony motor vehicle theft, and is undergoing a mental competency evaluation under Rule 20.

On July 25, around 11:15 p.m., Capitol security officers found Peace sitting in the Senate President’s chair, completely nude and holding an envelope, according to the criminal complaint.

He told the officers he was the governor and that the Capitol was his home, police said.

Peace had been seen earlier that day, around 2 p.m., entering the Capitol, which was open to the public at the time.

Surveillance video showed him carrying a wooden wedge. Investigators believe he used the wedge to prop open a mechanical room door so he could re-enter the building after hours.

At 9:47 p.m., Peace returned and entered the Capitol through the mechanical room. He went into a women’s restroom for about 40 minutes. When he emerged, he was naked and made his way to the second floor and into the Senate chamber, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers later found his clothing in the women’s restroom, which had standing water on the floor, suggesting Peace had bathed there, police said.

When interviewed by a trooper, Peace claimed the Capitol was his house and said a secret organization meets in the lower levels to make decisions about the world. He said no one had been there since 2000, when he "left for Italy."