Early Tuesday morning, authorities cleared out the memorial and encampment that took over the intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson streets in the wake of the July 22 police shooting of Corey Ruiz.
On the City Cast Madison podcast today, District 6 Ald. Davy Mayer, who represents the neighborhood and has been in close contact with both protesters and residents throughout, talks to host Bianca Martin about his perspective on the memorial and the lingering effects the 12-day saga will have on his neighborhood. [WPR, 🎧 City Cast Madison]
Here’s what happened on Tuesday morning, how things got to this point, and what comes next.
A Swift End
Eyewitnesses said city crews with forklifts, buses, and garbage trucks arrived at the encampment at 4:30 a.m. and asked people occupying the site to leave.
When some refused, police in riot gear moved in, and multiple people were arrested for allegedly trying to impede the teardown, while others were cited and released. Bystanders' videos showed protesters throwing objects at city workers and police, and police deploying pepper spray.
City crews and police officers took down tents and removed items from the site, carting them away in city trucks. Many items were moved to nearby Demetral Park, including the raised fist statue donated from George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.
City sweepers moved in at 8 a.m. to clean the intersection, and a small memorial was set up on the sidewalk on South Baldwin Street. By 9 a.m., traffic was flowing through the intersection for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said 50 or so unhoused people who were living at the site were given the option of being taken to a hotel and a “significant majority” chose to do so.
“Let's focus our energy on the hard work of sustainable change,” Rhodes-Conway said in a video message released after the encampment was taken down. “Holding government accountable for progress should not mean harming the community we all share.”
The intersection remained open for about five hours until it closed at 1:30 p.m. Police said people were in the roadway and engaged verbally and physically with officers. Police released aerial footage of one altercation between officers and interim independent police monitor Aeiramique Glass. [Cap Times, Instagram, City of Madison, News 3]
How Protests Became a Memorial
The memorial site, which some called the Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone, grew organically out of the protests that filled the intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson streets on July 22 after Ruiz was shot and killed by a Madison police officer.
In addition to protesting the killing and calling for the arrest of the officer involved, protesters set up tents, distributed mutual aid, and even set up Little Free Libraries with revolutionary literature.
Tide of Public Sentiment Starts To Turn
For the first few days, city officials expressed support for the memorial encampment as being a place for supporters to grieve. But after about a week, the tide of public sentiment seemed to start to turn.
While owners of many nearby businesses expressed public support for the protesters, they started to complain that having one of Madison’s most-traveled intersections blocked was causing them to lose money. Crowdsourced funding campaigns were set up to accept donations to those businesses.
City officials began escalating statements at about the same time as well calling for the encampment to end. On July 30, Rhodes-Conway said in a statement that the encampment was not “sustainable or safe,” saying emergency vehicles had to be rerouted around the intersection, and pointing to rising health and safety concerns at the intersection.
A man was arrested for battery that day after allegedly punching a protester, kicking signs and shouting racial slurs at other protesters. [GoFundMe, City of Madison, Fox 47]
Calls To End Encampment Increase
By July 31, Rhodes-Conway openly called on the encampment to end, and said the city was planning for a “peaceful transition.” State Rep. Francesca Hong, currently the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the governor’s race, suggested on social media Aug. 3 that the protest movement needed “a transition from the physical boundaries of the encampment to advocacy for durable change.”
One of the lead organizers of the protest, Clyde Mayberry, posted a message on social media Monday purporting to be a statement from Ruiz’s family, saying it was time to downsize and relocate the memorial.
The next day in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, city crews moved in to swiftly dismantle the memorial and reopen the intersection. [City of Madison, Instagram, Facebook]
What’s Next?
Ruiz’s family says they want to create a temporary memorial at the intersection, as well as a permanent memorial at a location meaningful to Ruiz and his family. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.
All four officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave while Ruiz’s death is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Madison’s interim independent police monitor Aeiramique Glass is also conducting an investigation and has subpoenaed Madison police for records.
And while the memorial may be gone, it’s clear the protests in Ruiz’s name will continue. On Monday night, a protest outside the Capitol organized by Freedom Inc. moved to Madison City Hall, where protesters used ladders to climb the building and display a large sign reading “Arrest the Killer Cop.” [GoFundMe, 🎧 City Cast Madison, WKOW]
