Madison, WI: People still in the streets to get justice for Corey Ruiz
Madison, WI – On another hot day in Madison, July 28, at the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin streets, six days after the murder of Corey Ruiz by the Madison Police Department, Madisonians continue to occupy the streets.
Many people return time and time again to visit the memorial, now dressed with flowers, candles and pictures of victims of police crimes. There is also a continuous stream of new faces, as individuals and organizations travel from around the country to visit, pay their respects, and help to organize on the ground.
On this day, the spirits were high and the people were looking forward, seeking to create a lasting monument to resistance and the pursuit of justice. To the north of the memorial, in front of the closed Crystal Corner Bar, above which the marquee reads “Corey Ruiz,” Freedom Inc. has set up a tent to carry out a four-day educational series where they will discuss in detail their demands to get justice for Corey and create change in Madison.
On this first day of sessions, led by Freedom Inc., the immediate task was to write postcards laying out the demands to be delivered to city officials, including Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, who has presided over several police murders in his tenure and continuously refused to press charges despite consistent community backlash.
The demands are as follows: Arrest the killer cop (Kiel Baitinger-Peterson); defund the police; hand over all evidence to independent monitor so that OIPM (Office of the Independent Police Monitor) can do an investigation; strengthen the PCO (Police Civilian Oversight) Board, and community control over police.
These demands have been crafted by Freedom Inc. in coordination with the family of Corey Ruiz. After 26 years of struggle, first against racial profiling and gender inequality in Madison’s Southeast Asian community, and their shift in 2003 to do the same for the Black and LGBTQ peoples, Freedom Inc. along with their many partners are well-equipped to weather the battles ahead and achieve justice.