Police shooting roils Madison; turmoil in Wisconsin primaries

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“How can I call you knowing you shot my father? How are you going to have four policemen on one Black man? On top of that, how are you going to get scared of us if you’re supposed to save us?”

– Kah’liyah Aliomar, age 13, daughter of Corey Ruiz, who was shot and killed by a Madison police officer Wednesday.

Outrage over police shooting upends business as usual in Madison

The point-blank shooting of Corey Ruiz by a Madison police officer on Wednesday set off mass protests, canceled events and demands for justice. A press conference by Madison’s mayor and police chief was derailed by an angry protester who seized the mic, hundreds gathered for a solemn vigil at the scene of the shooting, and weekend events have been called off. Isiah Holmes and Henry Redman have been following the story.

Corey Ruiz’s family members held an emotional press conference Friday afternoon, saying that they want charges filed against the officer who fired the shots and for Madison cops to be equipped with body cameras. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented multiple families in police shooting cases around the country, stood by the family and demanded more transparency from the city and the police, Redman reports.

Insurgent candidates shake up Wisconsin primaries

Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire city council and a candidate in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District is taking on Democratic party favorite Rebecca Cooke, slinging milkshakes in Galesville, riding the tilt-a-whirl in West Salem, grinding coffee beans with baristas in La Crosse and attending every county fair, dairy breakfast, cranberry festival and parade between Platteville and Eau Claire. Henry Redman follows the candidate and takes the temperature of the district in a race that pits a grassroots campaign against one with major institutional support.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has requested that the Wisconsin Elections Commission retract guidance that bars voters from changing their vote prior to the Aug. 11 primary if their preferred candidate drops out. Redman reports on the request amid a flurry of shakeups in the Democratic primary for governor.

State Rep. Francesca Hong is leading the four other Democrats in the gubernatorial primary according to a new Marquette Law School poll and internal polls publicized by her rivals. Some of those opponents have begun launching aggressive attacks against the democratic socialist candidate. Baylor Spears reports on the state of the race and the negative ads.

In a commentary on the race for governor, Editor Ruth Conniff writes that the chaotic primary reflects Democrats’ identity crisis. “It’s no surprise that Hong is catching fire,” she says. “People like candidates who say what they mean and aren’t afraid to be themselves,” and who show “courage and conviction in the face of bullying and corruption.” Instead of reacting in fear and buying into Republican race-baiting and attacks on democratic socialism, Democrats should study what Hong is doing to enliven voters, Conniff writes.

Salah Sarsour’s deportation hearing

A federal immigration judge heard arguments Wednesday from attorneys in a deportation hearing for Salah Sarsour, the president of Milwaukee’s Islamic Society and a legal permanent resident of the U.S. Isiah Holmes reports on the testimony, which focused on torture and forced confessions in Israeli military detention as the U.S. government leans on decades-old evidence Sarsour admitted to terrorist acts when he was a teenager in the West Bank.

PLUS:

NLRB board certifies union election of St. Mary’s Hospital nurses in Madison

Baldwin, Evers raise concerns about postal service ahead of midterms

Evers pushes Trump to speed up DACA renewals

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson takes up budget committee gavel

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