Murder in Madison

Madison, Wisconsin police murdered Corey Ruiz.

There’s no other way to describe what happened.

The police department is attempting to spin the incident, but what happened was nothing but deliberate homicide.

If you dare, watch the video of the shooting taken by a bystander.

Corey Ruiz was Black.

The police officers were White.

The bystander was White.

The police had Ruiz on the ground.

He had been tasered, but that action was too restrained.

Ruiz was lying on the ground, surrounded by four officers, when he was shot point blank three times in the head and torso.

Yes, he was suspected of attempting to break into cars and steal bicycles.

Yes, he had a fixed blade knife.

But when he was shot, he was on the ground at the mercy of the police officers.

An officer stabbed by the knife is the one who fired three rounds into Ruiz as he was lying on the ground.

The suspect was not a threat when he was killed.

He was on the ground in front of four officers who had gained the upper hand.

This was murder.

Law enforcement murders like this are the reason why Black and Brown people flee regardless of guilt or innocence.

Panic takes over at the thought that confrontation may result in death.

Corey Ruiz had every reason to fear the police.

This is not the first controversial shooting involving Madison police.

Eleven years ago, on the same street where the recent shooting took place, a White Madison police officer shot and killed a 19-year-old, unarmed biracial man.

In 2012, a White man mistakenly entered the wrong house in Madison, got into an altercation with police, and was shot to death.

While both of these shootings were officially ruled “justified,” families of the shooting victims received settlement money in excess of $5 million.

Someone in Madison’s government wasn’t sure these shootings were justified.

It’s likely that Madison’s coffers will be drained from another payout.

The money won’t return Corey Ruiz to his loved ones.

Trigger-happy cops aren’t just a problem in Madison, Wisconsin.

They are an American problem.