MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥� Protesters burst into a Thursday news conference about , taking the microphone from the police chief and arguing with some attendees who said they wanted to hear more about the investigation.
The group of roughly 20 protesters burst into the room at the Madison police station, shortly after Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Common Council President Sabrina Madison identified the man killed by police as Corey Durell Ruiz, a homeless resident.
Ruiz, 38, was shot and killed Wednesday after police said he resisted arrest and injured an officer with a knife.
Police Chief John Patterson stepped away from the microphone when the protesters were shouting, and one man in the group took his spot at the podium. The event quickly devolved into a shouting match.
One protester held a sign saying 鈥淐orrupt cops deserve to die too!!!鈥�
Moments earlier, the mayor said the shooting will be 鈥渞igorously investigated.鈥�
鈥淚t does not matter who you are or what your past is, you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement,鈥� Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
Madison, for her part, said 鈥淐orey could have been my brother because my brother is homeless and he often rides a bike.鈥�
Court records show Ruiz had been in and out of jail over the past decade on charges including failing to pay child support, driving a vehicle without consent, jumping bail, threatening authorities, taking a vehicle without consent, possessing drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer and retail theft.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a human being. He had a family. He has parents who loved him who brought him home, who cared for him,鈥� Madison said, adding that she’s struggling to understand what she’s seen in videos of the shooting that have circulated on social media.
鈥淢y first thought is, when the officer鈥檚 walking away, why isn鈥檛 he walking away in cuffs,鈥� Madison said. 鈥淚鈥檓 angry, there鈥檚 no way around it.鈥�
Once the protesters quieted down, the chief resumed his presentation, promising his department’s full cooperation with the state investigation.
Police have released few details
The shooting has roiled Wisconsin’s capital city, with Gov. Tony Evers calling for 鈥渢ransparency and accountability鈥� and Madison community members gathering Thursday at a growing memorial.
None of the four officers who were detaining the man wore body cameras, but passersby recorded the confrontation on video, and accused the officers of overreacting.
鈥淚 thought, 鈥楬oly cow 鈥� what could have warranted that?鈥� It looked to me like they had him under control,鈥� David Ortiz-Whittingham, who saw officers swarming and heard the gunshots, said Thursday. 鈥淓ven now, knowing about the knife, did he have to die for it? Could this have been de-escalated without him losing his life?鈥�
The police chief released few details Thursday, saying the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation into the officer-involved shooting must run its course.
Earlier Thursday, Madison’s independent police monitor, Aeiramique Glass, said police have not yet shared evidence or the officer’s identity with her office, which will review the case and can recommend to the district attorney that charges be filed if warranted. She said the department and city are 鈥渙bstructing what the community and the public鈥� want.
鈥淟et me do my job,鈥� she said.
Patterson said the police were committed to cooperating with Glass as the independent monitor’s investigation is carried out, at the same time as the state鈥檚 probe.
The chief urged people not to draw conclusions
Patterson has urged caution in reading too much from the cellphone videos. He said none show the perspective of the officers, and additional video that hasn’t been released is being reviewed.
The officer who fired his weapon is a veteran of the force, the chief said. He and the three other responding officers will be placed on administrative leave pending an independent investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, as required under state law.
Patterson said police were responding to calls that someone was attempting to enter parked vehicles, and the suspect fled on a bike before the officers surrounded him. One deployed a taser, but Patterson said he didn’t know if the taser worked. Those efforts failed to control the man, Patterson said.
In the videos circulating online, the man can be seen standing before he’s brought to his knees as the officers struggle to force him into a prone position. Then he falls quickly to the pavement after what sounds like three gunshots, and seems motionless as the officers handcuff him behind his back. Arriving officers then escort one of the officers a short distance away.
Patterson said he did not know the extent of the injuries sustained by the officer who was injured by the knife.
鈥淭his situation was clearly dangerous,” Patterson said. He later continued, 鈥淚 am incredibly saddened by the loss of life.鈥�
A neighborhood now accustomed to police shootings
The shooting happened in the middle of an intersection in the popular Marquette neighborhood, which is lined with restaurants, bars, shops and homes less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the state Capitol. The bystander videos show numerous cars at the scene, with people watching and commenting as it unfolded.
鈥淚 saw everything! I saw everything! You did not need to kill him! … We watched it all!鈥� a woman yelled in the video recorded by Ortiz-Whittingham. Three loud shots could be heard among the sirens, followed by screams.
Residents who dealt with two other police killings within the same few blocks expressed their frustration on Thursday.
In 2015, a white police officer Tony Robinson, who was biracial, on the same street. Large protests followed, but the district attorney filed no charges, determining the officer was justified. In 2012, Paul Heenan, a white musician, was fatally shot after he had been drinking and mistakenly entered his neighbor’s house. That officer was exonerated as well.
The chief acknowledged that the neighborhood 鈥渉as experienced a lot of trauma鈥� and urged people to support one another.
鈥淚 want transparency, I want accountability,鈥� Patterson said.
Questions about race and technology emerge
The race of the officer who fired his gun on Wednesday and that of the man he killed were not released by police.
But Black advocacy groups, protesters and politicians spoke out against the crime and said they believe the man was Black.
The shooting also focused attention on the Madison Police Department鈥檚 lack of body-worn cameras. The force of around 500 is among the largest in the Midwest that doesn鈥檛 use the devices.
Common Council President Sabrina Madison said Thursday that she expects a police request for $400,000 to be approved, enabling the cameras to be phased in over the next three years. Others lamented that cameras aren’t already being used.
鈥淣obody can agree on anything,鈥� said Katey Nelson, a member of the police civilian oversight board and operations director at YWCA Madison, a racial justice group. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e here, looking at another police shooting where we don鈥檛 have what we need to make sure the officers are held accountable.鈥�
The mayor said her budget, which has not yet been released, will include funding for body-worn cameras. Rhodes-Conway said the city needs to put together a policy for the use of the cameras, and said that will be completed before the budget takes effect in January.
And now it’s a talking point in the governor’s race
Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin, has a long history of organized protest dating back to the 1960s. More than 100,000 people marched on the state Capitol in 2011 in favor of union rights. There were large demonstrations that turned violent after the George Floyd shooting in 2020.
And so the shooting quickly infused itself into the race to succeed Evers as governor, with voting already underway in the Aug. 11 primary.
鈥淭his state sanctioned violence was an execution,鈥� posted Francesca Hong, a who appeared with a bullhorn at the scene just a few blocks from her campaign office. She has called for defunding the police.
Another Democrat in the race, Milwaukee County Executive , said while the details must become public, 鈥渢hese reports are painfully reminiscent of the tragedies we have witnessed in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and far too many communities across our country.鈥�
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany called on his rivals to let the state investigation 鈥渆stablish the facts without politicians rushing to judgment or stoking division鈥� in a statement that also said he would 鈥渨ork to end revolving-door criminal justice policies.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit and Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this report.
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