On July 22, Corey Ruiz, a 38-year-old unhoused Black man was detained by Madison police officers. Multiple bystanders observed that Ruiz was already on the ground and outnumbered by four police officers before he was shot three times by police officer Kiel Petterson.
It has been over a month, and Petterson has not been held accountable. Instead, the police have arrested several organizers demanding justice for Corey. The police protect each other, not the community. When four officers with guns and training cannot resolve or de-escalate a situation with one unhoused person, this indicates a failure to serve and protect. Common sense tells us that four men plus four guns, tasers, and training have more power than one person holding a knife.
This policing system was never designed to keep us safe. Our modern policing system has its origins in slave patrols, where officers captured escaped enslaved people and suppressed uprisings. After the system of slavery ended, police in the South upheld segregationist policies and prevented Black people from voting. This systemic anti-Black violence continues to this day. While only 7% of Madison’s population is Black, more than half of the police department’s “use of force” cases were against Black residents last year. This policing system does not keep us safe. We need a new system and we need community control over police.
(Image Credit: SugarFreePhotography.com)
We are proud to stand with Freedom, Inc (FI), a SEAFN member organization based in Madison, who has been organizing the community to demand justice for Corey and for the many Black people who have been brutalized and killed by police.
For SEAFN, being in solidarity is not just a phrase. It means we show up for each other. We traveled to Madison to:
- Act in solidarity with the Black community through support and action
- Build the capacity of our member organizations by creating opportunities to show up for each other, learn, and share skills. Thanks to Transforming Generations and Hmong American Women’s Association for their support!
- Bring national attention and support by coordinating national partners to deploy and support local Black and Southeast Asian women leadership
- Normalize protests and direct actions as an important strategy. We need to be seen and heard. We need to show courage in the face of heightened attacks on dissent.
Finally, we are in Madison to bring care and kinship to our organizers on the ground. FI has put their bodies on the line and their actions are crucial at this moment. Thank you for your continued leadership over the past two decades and especially now.