A local brewery owner is stoking controversy in the small town of Minocqua after he announced that he plans to protest the town’s 4th of July parade.

Kirk Bangstad, the owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, said that Americans ‘don’t deserve a celebration’ on the country’s independence day after him and five of his customers were arrested last Friday.

The arrest stemmed from an ongoing dispute between Bangstad and Gregg Walker, a local journalist and publisher of the Lakeland Times. (RELATED: Foreign-Born Employment Fuels Job Growth)

Bangstad has a reputation as a rabble rouser in the Minocqua community, having frequent disputes with local government officials and journalists. In 2023, he was found liable for defamation against Walker and ordered to pay a $750,000 judgement.   

Minocqua community members, including those who appeared sympathetic to Bangstad’s liberal political leanings, questioned his decision to protest the community’s Fourth of July parade.

Despite pushback from residents on both sides of the aisle, Bangstad has not indicated that he plans to reverse course. In a lengthy Facebook post titled ‘The Case for Shutting Down Minocqua’s July 4th Parade’, Bangstad says that he feels ‘compelled to disrupt this little town’s July 4th parade’ despite acknowledging that ‘civic groups and kids of all ages have already built their floats and practiced their marches’.

Bangstad’s run-ins with locals don’t end with a defamation suit and his planned protest, however, as his brewery lost its permit to operate as a result of a yearslong zoning dispute between Bangstad and the municipal government. (RELATED: Supreme Court Delivers Major Blow to Porn Industry in Landmark Ruling)

Bangstad’s progressive politics and liberal political leanings are often at odds with the town’s more conservative residents, which has led him to accuse local government officials of attempting to exact a political vendetta against him.