Madison Is Setting The Table To Be The Next Social Failure
There is an old saying that I have quoted frequently in my columns that says, “You can’t be a doormat unless you lie down.” It functions as an aphorism or a motivational saying about personal responsibility and boundaries. It has been widely attributed in popular culture to Eleanor Roosevelt, but it has been paraphrased by many.
Its meaning is clear, simple, and direct: people cannot mistreat or take advantage of an individual or a situation unless that individual or those in charge allow it by refusing to set boundaries.
Enter Madison, Wisconsin, the newest societal petri dish that is embracing the virus of racist entitlement instead of rejecting it and demonstrating absolute intolerance.
Last Wednesday, the Madison police shot and killed a man, identified as Corey Ruiz, in the middle of a busy intersection. Ruiz was brandishing a knife and was being wrestled to the ground when one of the officers pulled his weapon and shot Ruiz three times. Witnesses filmed the confrontation, but when the shooting took place, Ruiz’s hands were obscured, so it is unclear what prompted the officer to resort to deadly force. We do know that he was injured during the skirmish, but to what extent was not released.
I have watched the video, and because of the scuffle and the knife being obscured, I cannot say if the shooting was justified. I suggest you watch it and draw your own conclusions.
The shooting is currently under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. On Wednesday, Chief John Patterson stated that the officer who discharged his weapon was injured by a fixed-blade knife that Ruiz brandished. Chief Patterson also mentioned that officers confronted Ruiz after responding to a report from a resident who said he was checking cars in the neighborhood. However, Ruiz fled before they could apprehend him, leading to a chase that ended at the intersection.
State law mandates that officer-involved shootings must be investigated by an independent agency to ensure objectivity and maintain public trust. These investigations can take months. Once completed, the case is referred to a local district attorney, who decides whether to charge the officer involved in the shooting.
Residents of Madison, frustrated by the lack of information and still upset about the police shooting of Tony Robinson in the same neighborhood in 2015, are demanding a response from city officials.
On Thursday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Police Chief John Patterson, and Common Council President Sabrina Madison attempted to hold a press conference. The keyword here is “attempted.”
They all tried to say the right things, which is part of the problem. They tried too hard. While residents were still filing into the room, Rhodes-Conway was busy making sure that the reporters understood the depth of their concern.
“My immediate concern, right now, is for the well-being of our community. I want to make sure that everyone who needs it has access to resources and mental health support. Those resources exist and are available if you need them.”
Rhodes-Conway explained to residents that they should use the 9-8-8 hotline for urgent mental health support. They can also text either “home” or “hola” to 741-741 to reach volunteer crisis counselors, or contact the Dane County crisis hotline at 608-280-2609.
Rhodes-Conway should have stopped there. Instead, she overextended the olive branch. Stating that this is a difficult situation, showing support for the community, and assuring them that the investigation would be thorough is all that was necessary to say. A position of control and order needed to be maintained; unfortunately, she continued.
“This is an incredibly difficult moment for the Madison community, and I understand the very difficult emotions that people are feeling. I am feeling them too. As a city, as a community, as a society, we have to do better. It does not matter who you are, or what your past is; you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement. That should not happen.”
“Like many in our community today, I have a lot of questions and concerns about what happened yesterday, what decisions were made by officers that led to escalation instead of de-escalation; what different choices could have been made to prevent harm; what needs to change police policy, or training, or anything else to prevent more deaths.”
That statement by Rhodes-Conway demonstrates empathy that will do nothing but fuel the radical’s cause. Does that sound like an oxymoron? Yes, it does. It’s a shame, really. A person should be able to express empathy, but to these radicals who are looking for any excuse to riot and loot, empathy displays weakness.
Madison, the city council president, then poured more gas on the simmering fire. She ruminated that Ruiz could have been any number of people, including people she knows and loves. She added that she has family members who have struggled with mental illness and homelessness, and that black and brown children are taught by their parents how to interact with police in order to survive the encounter, something she unnecessarily and wrongfully added, that her white friends with children have no need to discuss with their own sons.
Since Madison brought race into it, let’s clarify that the officer who shot Ruiz was white. Let’s also clarify that Madison is a black liberal who uses the pronouns she/her/hers. So, the direction she is coming from is painfully obvious.
She then stated that Ruiz, “is a person, he’s a human being, he has a family, he has parents who loved him, you know, who brought him home, who cared for him, who poured into him.”
Madison added, “We should be pushing and advocating for our district attorney to charge folks,” and that people should engage with the district attorney, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the city’s independent police monitor, and the Police and Fire Commission.
She also encouraged residents to file complaints with those organizations, as well as the police department. “I think you should take every route for justice for Corey; I don’t think you should limit yourself.”
In an interview with CNN, Madison stated that she thinks the officer who shot Ruiz should be arrested.
Police Chief Patterson emphasized the importance of acknowledging the grief of Ruiz’s family and the community. He mentioned that the Madison Police Department has requested a full, independent criminal investigation.
He stated that the Division of Criminal Investigation will release the officer’s name according to its own timeline, and that the Madison Police Department has limited information and involvement in the investigation.
Recalling the words of retired former Madison Police Chief David Couper, Patterson said that police “cannot do the job unless you have the support of the community.” He reminded those in the room that Couper once wrote that:
“Use of physical force by police is a sacred public trust…The more force a department uses, the less trust and support it has from the people it serves. The more force we use, the less trust we have.”
As Patterson was speaking, he was interrupted by Carlos LeMar Dixon, who entered the room yelling at those on the podium. Dixon bellowed:
“We can shut this down; you can stop talking!”
“You’re going to say the same thing you all say every time a Black body gets shot down in this city. Have no fear, the anti-Zionist is here!”
As Dixon and his followers moved toward the podium, they all continued to shout over and to drown out Patterson. During the interruption, some residents of Madison confronted Dixon, leading to a heated verbal exchange. Dixon and his associates responded with insults and threats toward several individuals. While expressing their dissatisfaction with the public officials at the briefing, some Madison residents insisted that Dixon either calm down or leave, allowing for relevant questions to be posed.
At this point, city officials had lost total control of the press conference. Dixon, unbelievably, was allowed to commandeer the podium away from the officials who had arranged it. In fact, Rhodes-Conway, the mayor, actually walked off and left.
This is what happens when control and order are literally handed over because those who should be in charge fail not only to set boundaries but also to enforce them. Having a press conference taken over by loudmouth radicals, who simply walked in and did whatever they pleased, is not the example this police department and city want to portray as acceptable.
This is anarchy, plain and simple, and in this case it was brought on by weakness, and no one even stepped up to interfere.
It isn’t surprising that Black Lives Matter was energized by this. They, like all liberal/Democrat organizations, never fail to make a crisis larger than it should be. Within 24 hours, they were out in full force, barricading roads, surrounding drivers, and harassing sidewalk diners with megaphones.
Wednesday night, Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, a Democratic Socialist/Communist, showed up at the scene of the shooting and did her best to inflame the situation by calling it an “execution.”
Madison has a reputation for being extremely woke, and with this wimpish display, they are certainly proving that the inmates in the city are running the asylum.
The city officials not only became a doormat by lying down, but before they gave up, they inflamed the situation by once again identifying with the criminal instead of remaining neutral or backing up law enforcement. Lost in all this sniveling is the fact that Ruiz is a career criminal who was waving a knife at police.
BLM and other radicals will now wipe their feet on the innocent citizens of Madison, and this press conference run by weak city officials will stand as a microcosm of the overall problem.
