Protestors clash with Wisconsin cops hours after memorial for Corey Ruiz was removed

Police spokesperson said protestors at the encampment began lighting fires with some even hurling memorial candles

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Protesters clashed with police in Wisconsin Tuesday, hours after authorities tried to clear a memorial to Corey Ruiz .​

The tribute had been set up at a Madison intersection where 38-year-old Ruiz, a Black man, was shot by a Madison Police Department officer on July 22.

But Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway has described the encampment at the memorial site as neither “safe” nor "sustainable” with reports it has attracted a growing number of homeless.

Stephanie Fryer, a spokesperson for Madison Police Department, told Fox 47 city officials ordered protestors at an encampment at the intersection to leave at around 5 a.m. Tuesday. ​

Police decided to intervene when protestors at the site began to light fires, Fryer says, with some people even hurling candles from Ruiz’s memorial into the air. Ten people had been arrested by 7 a.m. the same day.

Video footage of the protests that followed in the evening, obtained by WKOW , appeared to show protestors throwing water bottles at police. As the protests continued, pepper spray and mounted units were eventually deployed by police, with further arrests made.

When police eventually left the intersection, the footage showed eggs and water bottles being thrown in their direction. ​

Protesters began reestablishing the memorial at the same site that same evening, TMJ4 reported.

Rhodes-Conway said in a video statement that the officials had intended to clear the barricades, while preserving memorial materials and personal belongings. ​Rocks and other debris were hurled at the city’s employees as they worked, she added.

The mayor said the City is fully cooperating with the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s investigation into Ruiz’s killing, noting that even one community member killed during an interaction with police is “too many.”

Ruiz’s death has divided the local community, with civil rights attorney Ben Crump calling for the officer who shot the 38-year-old to be criminally charged. ​

“They not only tackled him, not only tased him, not only kicked him, but you saw they shot him three times in his head and other parts of his body,” he said during a July news conference. ​

Madison Police have claimed that Ruiz brandished a knife , while struggling with four officers. One officer, who was injured, eventually opened fire and killed him.

The four officers involved in the case have been placed on administrative leave amid a state investigation, police told The Associated Press . ​

The Independent has contacted the Madison Police Department for further comment.

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