TCU student arrested for breaking into Texas Capitol, breaking portrait

By Hank Kilgore

Published Oct 14, 2016

Mugshot of Tanner Graeber after he was arrested for breaking into the Texas Capitol early Sunday morning.

A TCU student faces charges of burglary of a building and criminal mischief after authorities say he broke into the Texas Capitol early Sunday and damaged a painting. Senior communication studies major Tanner Graeber was arrested by a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to a DPS report. He has bonded out of jail.

Authorities said Graeber climbed the Texas Capitol via scaffolding, broke a window on the second floor, climbed to the third floor and damaged a historical portrait of former Texas Gov. Fletcher Stockdale. A spokesman for The Texas State Preservation Board said the portrait has an estimated $10,000 in damages. KXAN-TV aired a video of the break-in. The video shows a man climbing the Capitol as a security guard approaches the scene. According to the DPS, Graeber was climbing on the south side of the building where renovations are taking place. He was approached by a security guard as well as a DPS Trooper and arrested on the scene. Both charges are state jail felonies.

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