Are Capitol protesters wearing out their welcome?

Long before the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, thousands of protesters stormed the Wisconsin State Capitol to rally against Governor Walker's controversial agenda.

Nine months later, a handful of hardcore activists continue to clash with lawmakers and police, and the most aggressive protesters may be wearing out their welcome.

Is it civil disobedience, or criminal disruption?

Whatever you call it, a small number of activists are still testing the limits of the law in Madison.

Now, even some of their own supporters are turning against them.

"There are now only 27 days left until we can begin to recall Scott Walker!" Solidarity Song Leader Chris Reeder said.

On any given weekday, precisely at noon, the halls of the State Capitol begin to echo with the sounds of political discontent.

For more than 190 consecutive weekdays, full-time activists, part-time workers, retirees, and the unemployed have assembled in the Capitol Rotunda, for the so-called "Solidarity Sing Along."

"It has been very positive.  There certainly are people that have not liked us being here every day at the Capitol, certainly, but overall, it has been very positive," Reeder said.

Among the peaceful protesters, are a handful of aggressive activists who crowd into public hearings wielding protest signs. These protesters insult the lawmakers they dislike, and then follow them out of the Capitol and into bars, restaurants, and hotels.

These protesters record themselves testing the limits of the law, and then post the video online, for the world to see.

"I think that throughout the entire spring, we saw the tens of thousands of people who came to the Capitol frustrated, but civil. Now, we have what is left behind, which is that radical fringe group," Rep. Robin Vos (R-Burlington) said.

"Our constitutional rights are being violated every single day in this Capitol," protester Jeremy Ryan said.

Over the past nine months, Capitol Police have made more than 100 arrests for disorderly conduct, resisting or obstructing police, and other prohibited behavior.

At least 24 of those arrests have involved just three individuals: C.J. Terrell, Miles Kristan, and Jeremy Ryan.

"When you have court almost every week, it`s hard sometimes to remember all of your court dates," Ryan said.

Ryan, better known as "Segway," is an unemployed protester who regularly asks his Facebook followers to donate money for food or rent, and publicly advertises when he's "out of marijuana."

Ryan has been arrested 14 times for everything from standing in traffic with a protest banner, to refusing to leave the Capitol at closing time.

Ryan says the segway he rides is required for a heart condition, but claims the neck brace he wears is a result of a run-in with police.

"The state troopers grabbed the back of my neck and tried to slam my head into the railing," Ryan said.

Ryan and his cohorts have repeatedly refused to follow police orders.

"Sometimes when the laws don't benefit the people they're supposed to benefit, we say 'no,'" Ryan said.

State Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) says for months, these protesters have been getting away with it.

"They were becoming spoiled little brats basically, thinking nothing is going to happen.  'Go ahead and arrest me. Most of the tickets are being dismissed, so I will do what I want to do,'" Nass said.

Republicans aren't the only ones who have had enough.

"It`s as much about public perception as anything.  We need to have the public on our side," liberal blogger Zach Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski is a blogger with Blogging Blue, who recently engaged in a war of words with "Segway" Ryan over his claims that he and other protesters were "brutalized" by the Capitol Police.

"There was no police brutality.  These folks refused to leave. They laid down, or sat down, or whatever, so police did what they had to do," Wisniewski said.

In response, Ryan urged his followers to boycott Blogging Blue.

"I don`t at all doubt his passion, or what he`s trying to do, but I think there`s a point that people start to tune it out and say, `Well, there`s those liberals again,' and they hold him up as the example for the rest of us.  This is what we`re all like," Wisniewski said.

Milwaukee Assemblyman Josh Zepnick says he and other Democrats have tried to get the hardcore protesters to tone it down.

"Some of them have been belligerent. Certainly people from our side have asked and politely said, `Keep in mind sort of where and when you use your indoor voice, versus your outdoor voice," Zepnick said.

When 27 protesters disrupted a hearing of the Joint Finance Committee in June, it was the Democrats on the committee who tried, in vain, to control the crowd.

Last month, several protesters refused to follow rules that prohibit videotaping from the gallery, and police had to carry them out. The outburst that ensued, interrupted a speech by Assembly Democratic leader, Peter Barca.

"To interrupt that, or be disruptive, undermines the goal," Zepnick said.

"Some of them have clearly crossed the line on a number of occasions," Barca said.

"I have disagreements with many of the Democrats that are in this building," protester Miles Kristan said.

It is what Racine native Kristan is accused of doing, that may have finally turned the tide.

Kristan is the man who shot the video, as a fellow protester chased after Republican Assemblyman Robin Vos.

"If you two scumbags could stand a little closer into frame it makes it easier to film," Kristan said, while recording the video.

A few days later, Kristan is accused of following Vos into a local bar, and pouring a beer on his head.

"Dumping a beer on somebody`s head is totally in appropriate," Barca said.

"We`re not going to win hearts and minds by doing that," Wisniewski said.

FOX6's Bryan Polcyn: "Do you regret that at all?  Do you look back and say, 'Maybe I shouldn`t have done that?'"

Kristan: "No comment."

"When Representative Vos had the beer poured over him, that is when I decided at that point, nobody else was going to do something about it, so I will," Kristan said.

After the incident, Nass called for a review of Capitol Police Charles Tubbs, for being too soft on protesters.

Since then, it seems, police have stepped up enforcement.

Kristan has been charged with a crime for the beer-dumping incident.

C.J. Terrell and "Segway" Ryan are also facing criminal charges for resisting arrest.

In fact, eight different protesters have been charged with misdemeanors, instead of mere tickets, since Nass called out the chief.

"To his credit, he has put the hammer down and it has made a difference here at the Capitol," Nass said.

However, protesters aren't going away anytime soon.

"There won`t be violence. There won`t be destruction, but if they continue to break our constitutional rights, then we will continue to fight them," Ryan said.

A lot of them want us to be quiet little protesters," Kristan said.

"Sometimes it'd be better to just chill out a little bit," Zepnick said.

FOX6's Bryan Polcyn: "You don't want to be a quiet little protester?"

"I will never be a quiet little protester," Kristan said.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered Kristan to have no contact with Assemblyman Robin Vos, at least until his next court hearing.

Meanwhile, Kristan, Terrell, Ryan, and others facing criminal charges are all due back in court December 2, for what is referred to on the state court website as a "settlement conference."

The past few weeks, there have been reports that protesters are being arrested, for quietly holding signs in hearings, and as it turns out, that is true.

Republican lawmakers who control both the Senate and Assembly in Madison have started asking police to enforce administrative rules that prohibit the display of signs during public hearings.

Such displays had been allowed without objection for months.

Over the past two weeks, a number of protesters have been arrested, merely for holding up small sheets of paper with the Bill of Rights, or simply the words "free speech."