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Freedom Action Now (FAN) advances the feminist abolitionist agenda, mobilizing allies to support grassroots organizations led by working class Black, Southeast Asian, and other women and queer people of color in Wisconsin.
Freedom Action Now (FAN) advances the feminist abolitionist agenda, mobilizing allies to support grassroots organizations led by working class Black, Southeast Asian, and other women and queer people of color in Wisconsin.
July 28, 2026
One week ago, Madison police officer Kile Peterson shot and killed Corey Durell Ruiz at the corner of Williamson Street and South Baldwin Street. The intersection is still closed. The memorial still grows. And a community has built something the city did not expect: an encampment that refuses to leave.
What began as flowers and candles on the evening of July 22 has become a sustained occupation of the intersection where Corey Ruiz was killed. The encampment at Williamson and Baldwin is now a gathering place for mourning, for protest, and for community care — a physical refusal to let the city return to business as usual while a Black man lies dead at the hands of its police.
WKOW reported Monday that the encampment continues to expand, with protesters, neighbors, and community members maintaining a presence around the clock. The memorial has become a site where people bring food, water, supplies, and each other — the mutual aid infrastructure that communities always build when the state fails them.
Alder Davy Mayer, whose district includes the site, told reporters: "My priority has been safety for people who have gathered here, maintaining that right to protest." Mayer has received over 100 messages from constituents — uniformly demanding justice — and has acknowledged the tension between the community's right to protest and the neighborhood's desire for normalcy.
But there is no normalcy after a police killing. The encampment is the reminder.
Spectrum News captured what the site has become: a place for mourning, yes, but also a place for resolve. The Wisconsin Examiner's Daphne Cooper photographed the crowd gathering at the corner in the hours after the shooting. Now, a week later, the crowd has not left. It has organized.
On July 28, the Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement announced a press conference for Thursday, July 31 at Madison City Hall. Labor leaders and community organizations will stand together to support the demands of the Ruiz family and the protest encampment.
Their demands are explicit: the immediate arrest of Officer Kiel Peterson. Community control of police. Justice for Corey Ruiz.
This is a significant escalation. The encampment has been sustained by community members and grassroots organizers. Now organized labor is stepping in — bringing institutional weight, numbers, and the kind of political pressure that elected officials cannot easily ignore.
Ben Crump has not let up. Throughout July 28 and 29, the nationally known civil rights attorney continued his public campaign for criminal charges against Officer Peterson. PBS Wisconsin, Jurist, and the San Antonio Observer all carried coverage of Crump's statements.
The official press release from Ben Crump Law, published July 28, lays out the facts the family wants the public to know: bystander video shows Corey Ruiz was tased and taken to the ground before being shot multiple times. He was a father to 13-year-old Kah'liyah Aliomar. The shooting must be examined for excessive force.
Crump's strategy is clear: keep the pressure on. Keep the name in the news. Keep the demand for criminal charges visible and unavoidable. The family is not waiting for the investigation to run its course. They are driving the timeline.
The killing of Corey Ruiz is no longer a local story. Canadian outlet Yahoo News Canada carried coverage of the protests. Legal outlet Jurist brought the case to an international legal audience. The BBC has been covering the story since July 23. The world is watching what Madison does next.
Encampments are not new. From Ferguson to Minneapolis to Atlanta, communities have responded to police killings by occupying the site of the killing — refusing to let the blood be washed away, the memorial dismantled, the name forgotten. The encampment at Williamson and Baldwin is part of that tradition.
It is also a direct challenge to the city's narrative. The city wants to call this an "officer-involved shooting" and wait for an investigation that will clear the officer. The encampment says: we are not waiting. We are not leaving. We will be here until there is justice.
The August 4 Common Council vote on the PCO Board is six days away. The encampment will still be there. The question for the Council is whether they will listen to the people in the street or the police who killed one of them.
Freedom Inc. continues to lead the community response. Freedom Action NOW is mobilizing allies to sustain the encampment — providing resources, numbers, and the material support that makes long-term community occupation possible. Food. Water. Supplies. Legal support. People willing to be present.
The encampment is not a protest that ends when the crowd goes home. It is a community that has decided to stay. That takes resources. That takes commitment. That takes allies who understand that following means showing up and staying.
Thursday, July 31: Labor and community leaders press conference at City Hall.Monday, August 4: Common Council votes on the future of the PCO Board.Every day between now and then: the encampment remains. The memorial grows. The demands do not change.
Justice for Corey Ruiz. Jail killer cops. Community control over police.
