Protesters descended upon Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday after a video circulated on social media showing police as they shot and killed a black man who authorities say was armed with a knife and resisting arrest in the middle of a street.
On Wednesday evening and throughout the night, leftist protesters decried “racist police.” Even mainstream Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley said he was “horrified by the reports … about a man who was shot and killed in the street by police officers.”
The video and the official account from authorities of the deadly incident tell a different story, however, and suggest that some leftists are once again jumping to a racial narrative while ignoring the details around the shooting.
The graphic video footage, which was captured by a bystander, begins as three Madison police officers wrestle a man in the street and try to detain him. A fourth officer jumped into the scuffle and drew her taser as an officer was heard yelling, “He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife!” as the suspect pulled out a fixed-blade knife and injured one of the officers during the scuffle, according to Madison Police Chief John Patterson in a press briefing.
The female officer then fired her taser at the suspect at least two times before he fell to the ground. The injured officer, who Patterson described as a veteran of the police force, drew his handgun and fired three shots after the suspect fell to the ground. The suspect, a black man believed to be in his 30s, later died at an area hospital after officers performed life-saving measures on him following the shooting.
Chief Patterson said that all four officers were placed on administrative leave as the department reviews the deadly shooting, but he added that the incident was inflamed because the suspect initially fled from officers and then pulled a knife on them during the arrest.
“When a knife is produced during officers’ apprehension arrests, the overall situation is clearly elevated. It becomes incredibly dangerous, and it obviously increases risks for everyone there, for every officer, for the person as well,” Patterson said. “I think it severely narrows the scope of options and possible outcomes.”
“I’m grateful there were not more serious injuries inflicted to those officers,” he added. “But I again, convey my sympathies sincerely to [the victim’s] family.”
One other police officer was also injured in the incident, but authorities don’t believe the injury was caused by the suspect’s knife.
The suspect was pursued by officers after they received a call for a person who was allegedly looking at parked vehicles. When police found the man and attempted to talk to him, he fled on a bicycle and “traveled through some nearby backyards,” Patterson said. The suspect “either fell off or was taken off of the bicycle by officers” in the street before the officers grabbed him.
Just seconds after the shooting, anger erupted on Madison’s streets as a woman was heard on the video shouting at the police officers.
“I saw everything! You did not need to kill him!” the woman yelled.
The anger festered into the evening as protesters disrupted a free outdoor concert put on by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. In another part of town, protesters chanted “arrest that cop” as they stood next to a group of Madison police officers.
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers suggested the protests were likely to continue in the coming days and said, “There must be transparency and accountability” as investigations into the shooting move forward.
“We will continue to keep the loved ones and family of the individual who was killed in our hearts and prayers. His life mattered,” Evers added. “As folks exercise their First Amendment rights tonight and in the days ahead, we urge them to do so peacefully and respectfully.”
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