I think he should go with the mask.

A municipal judge Thursday found a La Crosse man guilty of disorderly conduct for wearing a fully hooded black sweatshirt into a downtown credit union and later screaming at police.

"I can tell in your mind you're thinking you didn't do anything wrong. You did," La Crosse Municipal Judge Dennis Marcou told Eric Harding. "You don't walk into certain places with your face covered."

Marcou's lecture book-ended an hourlong trial in which Harding, 32, tried to plead his case without an attorney, understanding of the law or preparation.

Governmental Employees Credit Union customer Tom Rose testified he was in the drive-up terminals about 10:30 a.m. July 1 when he saw Harding, dressed in a sweatshirt with printed skeletal bones, speed up on a bike and enter the building with the hood covering his face.

"I didn't know if it was a robbery or not," Rose said. "I've never seen anyone run into bank with a mask on before."

Rose called 911 to report a possible heist.

"You made a snap decision based on what I looked like?" Harding asked on cross-examination. "You think it's illegal to look different?"

Marcou sustained Municipal Prosecutor Pete Kisken's objection.

"I don't know what sustained means," Harding replied.

Harding unzipped the hood inside the bank - "I didn't want to scare anybody," he testified - and withdrew $600 for rent before riding off on Second Street. Minutes later, he said, he was "almost hit by a police car" at Second and State streets.

Harding testified police told him to "sit down, shut up and don't worry about it" as he was handcuffed and detained. He eventually was released when the confusion cleared.

Harding later stormed into the La Crosse police station and demanded to speak with a lieutenant. Lt. Ray Serres described Harding as agitated, loud and argumentative, at one point pounding on a table in an interview room.

"He was describing how his rights were violated," Serres said.

"Yes, I was loud with him," Harding testified. "I was shaking, I was so mad."

He also returned to the credit union, where he grew irate with President Sue Prinsen, she testified. Harding objected when she said he was "talking loudly."

"There's no objection in the law that I'm aware of where you can object if the witness says something you don't like," Marcou replied.

Harding told the judge he'd never had a problem with the sweatshirt in the past.

"Why did you wear it into a bank?" Marcou asked.

"It's what I was wearing that morning. It's like, why do you wear pants?" he said. "It's not illegal to walk into bank with a mask on."

Harding's behavior justified the $101 disorderly conduct citation, Marcou said, adding, "You're inviting more trouble if you continue to wear that mask."

Harding, of 509 S. Fifth Ave., said he plans to appeal.