On October 5, 2025, a 29-year-old Washington resident was faced with multiple felony charges after allegedly breaking into the state capital of Olympia. His name is Gunnar Schubert who was a former Gonzaga University baseball player and the main suspect for the destruction of the State Capitol.
He is accused of causing “significant damage” to several facilities, including the State Reception Room. Schubert was not present during the hearing in Thurston County Superior Court. Among the damaged items is a grand piano built in 1893 that was transported by musicologist Hans Moldenhauer from Germany in 1938 and arrived in Spokane the following year when he opened the Spokane Conservatory.
Schubert was booked into Thurston County jail and is facing charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree arson, and first-degree malicious mischief. “It did not seem to be politically motivated at all. It appears to have been a person experiencing a mental health challenge,” said Chris Loftis, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol.
He proceeded to knock over county flags positioned in one corner of the rotunda, and, using lighter fluid, set the Columbia County flag on fire, Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck said in an interview. On the third floor, officials said he broke a glass door to get into the reception room, where he burned a piano bench and attempted to set the carpet on fire. He also tipped over state and national flags and burned them, Heck said. Outside, he knocked over a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. and a much larger one of George Washington. Both had been put back in place by midday Monday.
Also, some stanchions were thrown down the rotunda stairs, causing a few chips on the marble stairs, according to the Department of Enterprise Services, whose staff first notified law enforcement Sunday night. “It’s terrible. It’s heartbreaking news,” Heck said of the damage the state reception room. The room is used for public tours, class visits, press conferences, and bill signings by governors. It contains “priceless, irreplaceable” items. The carpet, for example, is the original flooring from 1928 as described by the state as the “world’s largest single-room carpet.”
In a statement, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, called the Capitol “more than just a building.” “It is the people’s house, and it must always be a place where legislators, staff, and the public feel safe carrying out the important work of democracy,” she said. “While this act of destruction is disturbing, we will not be deterred. The people’s work will continue, and our commitment to transparency, safety, and service remains unwavering.”
Heck said this incident is another reminder of the “significant escalation in both violence-tinged political rhetoric and actual violence.” Recent months have seen the killing of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband in their home and the shooting of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife by the same gunman, as well as the assassination of Republican political activist Charlie Kirk.
“We must all do our part in turning down the temperature,” Heck said in a statement, “Violent rhetoric, property destruction, and violence against individuals are cancers in our democratic society.”
Sources:
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/10/06/hammer-wielding-vandal-damages-wa-capitol-in-late-night-break-in-authorities-s
rentonreporter.com/northwest/man-accused-of-vandalizing-wa-capitol-undergoes-mental-health-evaluation/
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/man-charged-wa-capitol-vandalism
