Wisconsin brewery loses liquor license after free-beer promise tied to Trump's death
Wisconsin's Minocqua Brewing Company will lose its alcohol sales permit after its owner promised free beer if Donald Trump died and later mocked an assassination attempt on the former president.
Wisconsin officials have moved to revoke the alcohol sales permit of Minocqua Brewing Company, whose owner had previously promised free beer in the event of Donald Trump's death. The state Department of Revenue said the license would be canceled on Aug. 4. The decision followed a June raid in which authorities seized canned beer from the company, claiming it was brought in from neighboring Illinois without the required permits and taxes.
Owner Kirk Bengsted, who describes his brewery as "the most progressive in the state," condemned the decision and called for donations to a legal defense fund. He said he would fight the state and appeal.
The permit revocation comes about three months after FBI agents interviewed Bengsted concerning a social media post. During the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on April 25, Cole Allen allegedly tried to push through a security checkpoint and fired outside the room where Trump, Vice President JD Vance and administration officials were gathered. Bengsted wrote on Facebook that "we almost got our free beer day" and suggested that a "resistance movement sibling" needed to improve shooting accuracy or that Trump had fabricated the incident. In a later video, agents questioned Bengsted about the comment. He and his lawyer said he did not plan or want to harm Trump and did not support any group advocating violence.
A well-known historical example of free food after a leader's death came in 1953, when a Ukrainian restaurant in Washington served free borscht the day after Joseph Stalin's death.
Before the White House incident, there were at least two assassination attempts against Trump when he was a presidential candidate. In September 2024, Ryan Routh tried to shoot Trump at a Florida golf course; he was sentenced to life in prison in February. In July 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one person and injuring six others before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.
