By Daniel Trotta
July 23 (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters gathered for a vigil in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday, demanding police be held responsible one day after an officer shot dead a man in an incident that bystanders captured on video.
The shooting death of Corey Ruiz, whom local community advocates and Wisconsin media outlets identified as Black, went viral on social media, reigniting some of the outrage that surfaced after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and other killings that have raised questions of racism in police use of force in the United States.
Police said Ruiz was armed with a knife that injured at least one of the four officers who wrestled Ruiz to the ground. During the struggle, an officer drew his handgun and fired what sounded like three shots at close range, according to the video.
Late on Wednesday demonstrators gathered at the scene and at the Capitol, where an outdoor concert was canceled because of the protests.
Demonstrators returned to the scene on Thursday, placing flowers in the street. Organizers introduced relatives of Ruiz, including a daughter, to the crowd.
Earlier Thursday, several protesters interrupted a press conference by Madison Police Chief John Patterson, demanding that the officers be jailed. The protesters held signs such as “Corrupt cops deserve to die, too!!!”
Video from Wednesday shows four uniformed officers grappling with the man amid shouts of “Let go” and “He’s got a knife.”
At some point an officer used a Taser to try to subdue the man, but for unknown reasons it was unsuccessful, Patterson said.
Police had stopped Ruiz in connection with reports of a person looking into parked cars. Another call at the same time about an unlawful entry into a home may have increased the police presence, Patterson said.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is conducting an independent homicide investigation, Patterson said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Vista, California; Editing by Donna Bryson and Christopher Cushing)
