Video Message from Mayor Rhodes-Conway

For Immediate Release
August 4, 2026

"Good morning, I'm Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. 

I want to start by saying that the death of Corey Ruiz is, tragically, another wake up call for Madison. Even one community member killed during interactions with the police is too many. The grief, anger, and frustration are real and I feel it, too. I want to be clear that the City is fully cooperating with the independent investigation conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and will respect whatever decisions the District Attorney makes regarding charges for the officers involved. As soon as we are allowed to under state law, the police department will provide all relevant materials to the Office of the Independent Monitor for their investigation.  

There is more work to be done at the City level to prevent this from happening again - work to build on the success of our CARES program in diverting calls away from police, work on police policy and training, and more. We need reform at the state level as well. I know it's unsatisfying to hear that change takes time, and that these investigations and processes require patience. But these things do take time and many of the changes needed are not in City government's control.   

For nearly two weeks, I and City staff have been working day and night to peacefully resolve the occupation of Williamson and Baldwin without law enforcement intervention. The City has committed to maintaining space for members of the community to gather and grieve, and we stand ready to do that work in collaboration with the family and the community. But that work could not begin while city streets were occupied, local businesses were on the verge of closing, and residents in the Marquette neighborhood were caught in the middle of an increasingly volatile situation.  

A challenge of the last two weeks was that there was not one leader, one group, or one coalition that represented the people occupying the intersection. What is deeply regrettable is that many vulnerable people were caught in the middle, which is why the City spent considerable time and effort finding emergency solutions — efforts that succeeded in helping dozens of unsheltered people and families. We were doing this work before the occupation, and we will continue to do this work moving forward. 

This morning, the City of Madison opened the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin. The work was led by non-law enforcement staff from multiple City agencies. Our goal was to clear the barricades, preserve personal belongings and memorial materials, and open the street up to normal traffic. The CARES Team and members of the Violence Prevention Unit were there from the beginning to assist.  Unfortunately, as City staff cleared the area, rocks and other items were thrown at City employees and two fires were set; as a result, law enforcement was called in to stabilize the scene, and a small number of individuals were arrested. Again, multiple efforts and calls to end the occupation peacefully were made but ultimately ignored. 

The 50 or so unsheltered individuals who were onsite were given the option to stay in hotels and were offered transportation there. A significant majority decided to do so and around 10 people were also placed in hotel rooms yesterday. This effort was done with as much compassion as possible under less-than-ideal circumstances. Those with personal belongings left at the site can pick them up at Demetral Field.  

Again, the decision to invoke this option was not made lightly and was only made after almost two weeks of trying to resolve the situation peacefully, and voluntarily, with the people occupying the site. 

There are many hard conversations to come and I look forward to us coming together as a community to have them. I ask that if you truly care about building a better future, you allow local businesses to stay open, residents to freely access their homes, and the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin Streets to stay open. Let's focus our energy on the hard work of sustainable change. Holding government accountable for progress should not mean harming the community we all share.  

Thank you, Madison. We are a strong and compassionate community. Together, we can support each other. Together, we can work towards change. Together we can get through this. "