Rep. Bowen Statement on Stephanie Rapkin Charges
“Should We Believe That We Didn’t See What We Clearly Saw?”
MILWAUKEE – In response to the news that Stephanie Rapkin has been charged with disorderly conduct with a hate crime modifier in connection with her battery on a Black teenager in Shorewood this past Saturday, State Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) released the following statement:
“I am glad to see that Ms. Rapkin has been formally charged, and even more glad to see that the District Attorney has added a hate crime modifier to her despicable actions. But I am incredibly disappointed to see that her charges have been downgraded to ‘disorderly conduct.’ What we witnessed was not just ‘disorderly conduct,’ it was battery. This woman purposefully spit on a child, and was fully aware of what she was doing during a pandemic. Plenty of us have seen the video – should we believe that we didn’t see what we clearly saw?”
This past Saturday, Shorewood resident and lawyer Stephanie Rapkin parked her car in the middle of North Oakland Ave. in Shorewood, blocking the path of a peaceful protest against racism and police brutality. When peaceful protesters confronted Rapkin and asked her to move her vehicle, she responded by spitting on a 17-year-old Black Shorewood resident, who had helped organize and lead the peaceful protest.
“I will be reaching out to District Attorney Chisholm for understanding, but this turn of events just proves the point that Black people in our communities have been trying to make for years – our health, our physical safety, and our concerns are too often diminished by those in positions of power. This woman clearly attacked a child by spitting on him during a global pandemic – how is that nothing more than ‘disorderly’? I am incredibly disappointed in this decision to downgrade charges, and I am calling on the District Attorney to elevate them at once to battery, as they should have been in the first place.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the 2020 Racial Justice Protests
- Plea Agreement Reached On Long-Pending Sherman Park Unrest Charges Involving Vaun Mayes - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 17th, 2024
- Rep. Ryan Clancy Settles With City Following 2020 Curfew Arrest - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 12th, 2023
- Supervisor Clancy Applauds Settlement in Clancy vs. City of Milwaukee - Ryan Clancy - Dec 12th, 2023
- Tosa Protest Assails Federal Court Decision Exonerating Police - Isiah Holmes - May 9th, 2023
- Wauwatosa ‘Target List’ Trial Begins - Isiah Holmes - May 3rd, 2023
- Shorewood Spitter Found Guilty For 2020 Protest Confrontation - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 20th, 2023
- City Hall: City Will Pay 2020 George Floyd Protester $270,000 - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 14th, 2023
- Tosa Protest Tickets Dismissed - Isiah Holmes - Jul 21st, 2022
- Op Ed: ‘We Need More’ - Charles Q. Sullivan - Mar 4th, 2022
- Milwaukee Officers Circulate “2020 Riot” Coins? - Isiah Holmes - Nov 14th, 2021
Read more about 2020 Racial Justice Protests here
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