Arrests at Madison Encampment Site Climb to 22 After Overnight Skirmishes

Police Chief John Patterson, left, and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway address reporters about the Williamson Street protest encampment on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 in Madison, Wis. Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR

Twenty-two people have been arrested since the city of Madison began clearing out a protest encampment on the city’s near east side, officials said Wednesday after a night marked by clashes between protesters and police.

Madison Police Chief John Patterson could not offer a breakdown of how many arrests occurred during overnight skirmishes compared to arrests from throughout the day Tuesday, when the city began forcibly clearing an encampment at the site where police fatally shot Corey Ruiz on July 22.

But Patterson said between 30 and 40 protesters remained in the streets for hours overnight, setting fires and expanding the footprint of their nearly two-week-old protest.

“I saw things last night that I haven’t seen in years,” he said.

Patterson said the city had issued 10 citations, and a minor was detained after being found with a firearm. He did not say whether the juvenile is facing charges.

A sign cautions drivers headed toward an encampment Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Madison, Wis., which is occupied in response to Madison police shooting and killing Corey Ruiz. Angela Major/WPR

Wednesday’s press conference comes after a fraught 24 hours that began in the early hours of Tuesday when city workers — including parks and sanitation workers and law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions — began removing items from the Williamson Street intersection where protesters and, later, people without homes had established a blocked-off protest and camping zone.

Tensions continued throughout the day. After the site reopened to traffic, protesters attempted to block it off again. A city council meeting scheduled for the evening — in virtual format-only, with city spokesperson Dylan Brogan citing threats made against elected officials — ran for almost eight hours, concluding at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

During the evening and into the night, some people returned to the site, starting fires and clashing with law enforcement, according to dramatic video of the scenes posted on social media.

“Many in this community are angry and grief-stricken over Corey Ruiz’s life being cut short by the police. Those feelings are completely legitimate, and I feel them, too,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said at Wednesday’s press conference. “But as mayor of Madison, I will not condone or accept that the solution is to further divide our community by causing harm to your neighbors and local businesses, harassing bystanders or setting fires in city streets.”

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, flanked by city employees including Police Chief John Patterson, far left, addresses reporters about the Williamson Street protest encampment on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 in Madison, Wis. Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR

Rhodes-Conway said she and the city have weathered criticism from every side over how they have handled the presence of the encampment over nearly two weeks. The street where Ruiz, a 38-year-old Black man, was killed by police had been converted into a makeshift memorial with artwork and messages on the street, but also grew to include tents, grills and mattresses.

“There are people who wish that we had come in on day one and stopped all of the protests and never let an encampment happen. And then there are people who wish that we would let that encampment go on for months and months and months,” she said. “There are a lot of people who don’t think that we’ve done the right thing, but they all think that we’ve done the wrong thing for different reasons.”

Family of Corey Ruiz: ‘Keep this peaceful’

Along with protesters, the site had also become a gathering point for people without housing. Jim O’Keefe, Madison’s Director of Community Development, said Wednesday that about 70 people had accepted city vouchers to stay in hotels for up to a week, and that the city had also provided transportation to hotels or other locations.

Belongings from the encampment were brought to Demetral Park, on the city’s east side. The mayor said that items not claimed by Wednesday can be retrieved by going through the city parks department.

A statue that had been at the center of the Corey Ruiz memorial is displayed at Demetral Park on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Rhodes-Conway said that the city would continue to monitor the intersection and ensure traffic could continue back through the site unimpeded going forward. She also said the city is “ready to coordinate with Corey’s family” to establish a memorial to Ruiz.

“We are absolutely committed to allowing space for some sort of memorial,” she said. “It just can’t be in the middle of the traffic lights.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Ruiz’s family released a statement through civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

“Our family did not organize or authorize the encampment at Williamson and Baldwin streets,” the family’s statement reads. They disavowed a statement circulated by some activists that purported to come from the family and included a list of demands, saying, “We were never asked, and we never agreed to the statement released in our name.”

“The city cleared that intersection yesterday,” the statement concludes. “We ask everyone at that corner and everyone wearing a badge to keep this peaceful. No one else should be hurt in Corey’s name.”

A memorial for Corey Ruiz, a man who was shot and killed by Madison police, fills the Williamson Street intersection where he died Monday, July 27, 2026, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Police monitor shown in altercation with police amid chaotic scenes

Video taken overnight show chaotic scenes over a few blocks. In one, a line of police officers in riot gear block off an intersection at East Washington, a major thoroughfare extending to Madison’s interstates. The Madison Fire Department responded to five fires, according to that agency, set around the intersection in city dumpsters and trash cans.

At the start of Tuesday’s meeting of the Madison Common Council, Alder Barbara Harrington-McKinney asked if leaders could suspend the meeting and reconvene later “because there is craziness in the streets.”

The meeting continued, with about eight hours of public comment while chaos raged on Williamson Street. No action was taken.

Among those involved in altercations with police was the city’s interim police monitor, Aeiramique Glass. In drone video released by the city, she is seen confronting officers at the site. She appears to push one of them before a group of officers subdues her. In a social media video posted after the altercation, she shows a bloodied hand and says, “I will f—— burn this city down.”

Rhodes-Conway on Wednesday called it “disturbing” for a city employee to call for violence. Patterson praised how his agency has handled the protests and ensuing flare-ups throughout the day and into the night. He said that neighboring Sun Prairie and the state police were also involved.

Patterson said no tear gas or projectiles had been deployed and one officer used pepper spray.

A Madison police officer stands near a squad car as protesters approach Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Ongoing monitoring of Willy Street

The protest zone was erected almost immediately after Ruiz was shot dead in the street, after being apprehended by police officers. Police say he brandished a knife, cutting one police officer, before he was killed. The shooting was captured on video, sparking days of community protest that culminated in a barricaded encampment on the commercial thoroughfare affectionately referred to as Willy Street.

For days leading up to Tuesday’s clearance actions, Rhodes-Conway had been calling for an end to the encampment, which she said was straining local businesses and disrupting residents’ daily lives. On Wednesday, she said there was no inciting incident that made Tuesday the day. She said the city had tried to involve other agencies foremost, using police as a last resort.

“Often the presence of police officers is part of the escalation, and so we have tried very hard to limit police response to what’s necessary and to use other city staff,” she said.

Patterson said city agencies would “staff the intersection for the foreseeable future” to ensure that residents and businesses can return to regular life.

“We recognize that for some people in the area, we are what’s causing agitation — our presence — and so we don’t want to do that,” Patterson said.

State investigation continues into Ruiz’s death

Ruiz’s death is under investigation by the state Department of Justice. Separately, Madison operates an independent police oversight board, with an individual police monitor. Glass, the interim independent monitor involved in the altercation Tuesday, has called on the city to release its records to her office now, instead of after the DOJ investigation concludes.

“I should not have to wait,” she said in a July 28 interview with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

On Wednesday, Patterson said that’s not his call to make.

“I’ve had discussions literally every single day, multiple times a day, with (the Division of Criminal Investigation) about what updates can be shared. … I’m assured they continue to progress in their investigation,” he said. “I feel it’s really my job to allow the investigating agency to do their work and make some of these decisions on records as well. I don’t want to be a chief that’s going to try to influence decisions one way or the other.”

At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Madison City Attorney Mike Haas said the city’s official position is that those records cannot be provided to the police monitor until the Wisconsin DOJ investigation is over.

Editor’s note: WPR’s Sarah Lehr contributed reporting.

Arrest count at Madison encampment site climbs to 22 after overnight skirmishes was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.