Nicholas Garton contributed to this report.
Tensions between the Madison community and police hit a tipping point after protesters managed to chase officers out of the Willy and Baldwin Street encampment and reclose the street Aug. 4.
Protests have continued since the killing of Corey Ruiz by Madison police on July 22. Demonstrators have called for justice, while some city officials, including Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, have urged the community to move forward. On the morning of Aug. 4, city crews dismantled the encampment and vigil at the site where Ruiz was killed. The action sparked protests throughout the day, culminating in a large law enforcement response that included about 30 police officers and sheriff’s deputies, some wearing riot gear, as well as four mounted police officers whose horses were equipped with protective face masks.
Many were heard arguing with police and throwing insults. One protester spoke with an officer to voice his grievances on the situation and police presence.
“You want these people, this movement to be safe, then there has to be a movement towards justice,” they said. “There has to be voices from within the police department saying, ‘Murder is wrong. We don’t stand by this. We are ready to throw our guns down. We are ready to take on body cams,’ whatever your idea is.”
The officer responded that she supported body cameras, but the surrounding crowd found her answers, and ones from other officers, to be “lip service,” they said. Protesters commonly said that the reason why the protest may go awry is due to the heightened police presence in the area.
Tensions continued to build for hours until officers swarmed one protester to arrest them. It was not clear why the individual was arrested, or who they were, as officers quickly flocked to surround them and usher them off.
Protesters flooded that area in attempts to rescue the detainee, but it led to more arrests of protesters.
Tensions reached their peak following the arrests. Police then advanced toward Baldwin Street, using mounted officers to help move the crowd. Officers repeatedly warned protesters that pepper spray could be used if they did not comply, and one sheriff’s deputy fired several warning rounds from what appeared to be a less-lethal launcher.
Protesters continuously threw bottles of water at police, some empty and some full, as they quickly moved towards their vehicles and left the scene.
Protesters rallied back once police left to claim victory. Tensions immediately died down without police presence as many tried to use the momentum for next steps in the protest. First, they moved to close off Willy Street again with dumpsters and cars.
Disagreement over next steps caused the protest to lose some momentum. Some wanted to stay put in the belief that if they moved on, police would immediately take Willy Street again, but with more force.
Others wanted to march to the state capitol, the courthouse and city hall. Some wanted to expand the area controlled through to the next stoplight either down Baldwin Street towards East Washington Street or westward of Willy Street, with the intention to elicit police reaction.
Groups splintered off without a centralized plan of action. Some decided to march to the Capitol, some moved down Baldwin Street and the majority stayed put.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
Rumors that police remained nearby spread like wildfire. Protesters claimed police regrouped at the Madison Metro Transit’s Administrative Office, near McPike Park or across the street from East Washington Ave.
Madison365 went to each location. There were few to no police cars. Two remained where they were initially parked in the empty field on Baldwin between Hazel General Store and East Wilson Street. Police drones were still seen observing the protest.
More protests are anticipated for this week. The next planned protest is organized by Freedom Inc at the Dane County Courthouse, 215 S. Hamilton St., at 11 a.m.
“Nobody was doing anything wrong”
When the encampment was initially dismantled Tuesday morning, city officials cited complaints from local businesses that were unable to operate at full capacity (or at all) due to the presence of the encampment. The intersection of Williamson and Baldwin Streets had been largely blocked off during the encampment, stopping the normal flow of traffic.
Madison’s Streets Division worked throughout the morning to clean the streets at the site and relocate artwork and other items from vigils dedicated to Ruiz. Artwork, including a large fist sculpture imported from Minneapolis, and personal possessions were relocated to Demetral Field on Madison’s East Side, city officials said.
As has been the case for more than a week, the vigil site was filled with peace and tranquility, along with a lot of love.
Candles stayed lit, unhoused people found food and solace together, and the memory of Ruiz was kept alive by those who mourned there.
“I’ve been here the whole time this whole week. I’ve seen community people coming together, supporting one another during a time where people are grieving,” a man who identified himself as Jexisis told Madison365.
But in the middle of the night (or early in the morning, depending on one’s semantics) city officials accompanied by dozens of police began dismantling the site and forcing people to move.
More than 10 people were arrested attempting to preserve the site and not wanting police to end the encampment. Bystanders said some people who were arrested were “bloodied” by police and slammed into pavement filled with glass from spilled tables.
Others scurried to preserve as much of the vigil site as possible. A statue was loaded onto the back of a truck, along with other special items, to be carried off to Demetral Park where the items will be preserved, according to Madison Police.
Sarcastic jeers filled the air as street sweepers made their way over graffiti-laden pavement.
“Homeless people were here, so it’s really dirty, ya know?” one person shouted snidely.
Some engaged officers in dialogue about everything from Ruiz’ slaying to police conduct this very morning. Some people yelled at officers angrily.
Others simply wept on the sidewalk.
“Nobody was doing anything wrong out here,” Michael Davis, who has been at the encampment site all week, told Madison365. “We were surviving. We were feeding each other and they violently came and took this over.”
Clergy, homelessness advocates and resource workers, city staff, public figures, people from out of town and others from all walks of life have visited or remained at the encampment.
Some contend Rhodes-Conway has not been among those visiting the vigil site.
“She didn’t act like a leader,” said Shadyra Kilfoy-Flores, a Willy Street resident and the former chair of the Police Civilian Oversight Board. “She didn’t come and mourn with her constituents.”
“Cowardly”
For days Rhodes-Conway has been saying the encampment site needed to be closed. But doing it this way- with rifles, riot gear and bulldozers- has reenergized those who feel enraged by the sequence of events that led to this moment.
“I’m saddened by Satya’s lack of leadership on this,” Kilfoy-Flores said. “I think it’s abhorrent. This was a major fail. I think she better make plans for next year other than being mayor.”
Michael Davis agreed.
“All they want to do is protect killer cops. This is coward s**t,” Davis said. “The mayor is a coward. They came in at night when we were sleeping with no warning.”
One former elected official told Madison365 it was the “worst and most f**cked up thing” they had ever seen and that Rhodes-Conway, who recently announced she will seek a third term, “has to go”.
Rhodes-Conway, in a video message posted midday Tuesday, said efforts to end the encampment peacefully were complicated by a lack of a single leader or spokesperson for those occupying the area.
“What is deeply regrettable is that many vulnerable people were caught in the middle, which is why the City spent considerable time and effort finding emergency solutions — efforts that succeeded in helping dozens of unsheltered people and families,” she said.
A city spokesman told Madison365 that the city provided 65 unhoused adults at the encampment with hotel accommodations yesterday and today, each for one week, funded through the Community Development Division.
Rhodes-Conway also said the dismantling of the encampment was initially led by city staff, not law enforcement, and that law enforcement become involved only after people threw rocks and police and started two small fires.
Despite arresting multiple people for merely yelling at police, law enforcement did nothing when a white man clearly bent on agitating the crowd challenged Davis and others to fight him as the white man stood behind a line of police.
Such has been life for people at the encampment. They have maintained a peaceful posture, created or donated artwork, posted meaningful signs and graffiti around that section of Willy st. and refrained from retaliating in the face of incredible taunts or assaults from white agitators.
“I see the outsiders antagonizing,” Jexisis said. “The white supremacists have come down here with guns, and we have stayed firm. We have prayed for them. We have stayed peaceful.”
The Department of Criminal Investigation is still reviewing the actions of Madison Police in the alleged homicide of Ruiz.
Despite the loss of the encampment, those fighting for justice for Ruiz have not lost heart.
“We need to keep going,” Jexisis said. “It doesn’t end here. We need to take over more, disrupt more.”
Protesters expect some city or police response to Aug. 4’s protest this morning.
