Wisconsin's capital city cancels signature events, grapples with fallout
from police shooting
[July 27, 2026]
By SCOTT BAUER
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A police shooting in Wisconsin’s progressive
capital city this week put the spotlight on persistent and deep racial
divisions, prompting cancellations and other changes to popular
summertime events as protesters said they were determined to continue
public pressure for change in Madison.
Corey Ruiz, who is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court
records, was shot and killed by a Madison police officer on Wednesday
after a brief scuffle at an intersection in the city's most liberal
neighborhood just yards away from a popular 52-year-old food co-op.
It marks the third time since 2012 that Madison police have shot and
killed someone in the same neighborhood. The shooting has sparked
renewed calls for police reforms and forced the city to once again
reckon with calls from the Black community to address racial justice
issues.
Pressure from protesters, and sympathy for their cause, has also led to
the cancellation or disruption of many of Madison's signature summertime
events.
“Our community has spoken loud and clear: this is NOT business as
usual,” Black activist Clyde Mayberry posted on Facebook on Friday amid
a string of cancellations. “Your decisions have helped ensure that this
city continues to acknowledge the pain, the loss, and the call for
accountability.”
Protesters took to the streets hours after the shooting, disrupting a
popular Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra outdoor concert at the state Capitol
that attracts about 30,000 every week in the summer.
The scene captures a familiar divide in Madison, a city that is more
diverse than the state overall but still 70% white. Protesters, many of
whom were Black, stood over white concert attendees sitting at tables
near the stage that cost as much as $1,800 to rent for the night.
Concert organizers canceled the event.
Threats of a protest on Thursday led the city to postpone the grand
opening of a new public market, just a few blocks away from where the
shooting occurred. A popular neighborhood festival near the shooting
called AtwoodFest, scheduled to begin on Saturday, was also canceled in
the face of potential protests.
“Our community and our Marquette neighbors witnessed another horrific
officer-involved shooting just blocks from our festival grounds, leaving
us in deep pain and justified anger,” organizers of the festival wrote.
“In acknowledgment of what has happened far too often in our community
and our country as a whole, this year’s AtwoodFest, themed ‘The
Heartbeat of the Neighborhood,’ is canceled.”
[to top of second column]
|
Attendees gather at a candlelight vigil where a Madison police
officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison,
Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
And on Saturday, the popular downtown farmers market that attracts
about 20,000 people each week around the Capitol building, shut down
nearly four hours earlier than usual in solidarity with protesters.
“We mourn with our community,” market organizers posted on social
media. “And we agree - business cannot proceed as usual.”
A handful of protesters showed up at the Capitol as vendors were
breaking down their booths at around 10 a.m.
“No one should be thinking this is just another Saturday,” said Reba
Bergmann, who sat with Lilly Nimmer holding a sign that said
“Justice for Corey.”
“It's not life as normal,” Nimmer said. “We should be more mad. We
should stand up for what we believe in.”
Charles Ault, 30, supported the decision to close down early.
“It's important to keep focus on the real tragedy, which is that
someone got killed," said Ault, who was shopping at the market.
"Missing some market time, that's sad, but that's not what's
important.”
But Rodney Hathaway, who was visiting Madison from Milwaukee, was
caught off guard by the market's early closure.
“It's ridiculous,” he said. “This is peoples' livelihoods. It's just
unfortunate. We have such a short summer season for these people to
sell their wares.”
Investigations into the shooting continue. Civil rights attorney Ben
Crump, who represents the Ruiz family, said on Friday at a new
conference in the Capitol that the officer who fired the shots
should face criminal charges.
Madison Police Chief John Patterson, who is white, has tried to calm
tensions, even allowing protesters to overtake a news conference
that he was leading along with the mayor inside the police
department's downtown headquarters on Thursday.
Patterson took questions from angry protesters, one of whom held a
sign just feet away from the chief that said “corrupt cops deserve
to die too.” After one protester hurled an insult at Patterson, the
chief calmly responded, “I appreciate you being here.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
