What's In The News? Mini #397

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Madigan** (0:31)
Hi, I'm Madigan, and you're listening to Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist, a podcast that explores the world through a personal feminist perspective.
Hello, everyone. I absolutely detest that I'm starting off yet another mini episode with the news of another member of law enforcement killing someone. On Wednesday in Madison, Wisconsin, a man in his 30s named Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by a police officer. There had been a report of someone checking vehicle doors on Wednesday afternoon in Madison, according to the police, and they responded to the Marquette neighborhood around 1 PM. When the cops arrived, Corey allegedly fled on a bicycle, but the cops found him again at around 1:35 PM. Corey then either fell off the bike or was taken off the bike by officers. I know which option I think happened. There was a struggle, and again, allegedly, Corey pulled out a fixed blade knife, and an officer was injured when trying to arrest him. Madison Police Chief Patterson said that a stun gun was first used in the struggle, but that it wasn't effective. It was the officer who was struck with the knife that then fired the shots that killed Corey.
In a video of the encounter, you can see officers holding onto a man who is Corey. As someone calls out, let go, you can also hear numerous people yelling, he has a knife. An officer can also be heard shouting, Taser.
About three seconds later, Corey is on the ground, and a male officer is standing over him. Then the officer fires three rounds into Corey's body. Then he stops moving. The knife is seen in the video, it looks like an officer throws it to the side. The man responsible for the video that has gone viral is named Michael Daubeck, who is returning from a co-op grocery store on Williamson Street when he saw police cruisers flying by.
Thankfully, he and some other bystanders took these videos because officers were not wearing body cameras, as according to the chief of police, the Madison Police Department doesn't widely use them. I just feel like that is such bullshit because I'm very familiar with Madison, Wisconsin. I used to go to a skating competition there every year, and I have family who lives in Madison. It is the state capital. It is not some teeny weeny, rinky dink small town. It is a city.
So the fact that this police department does not have body cams just seems absolutely ridiculous to me. It's also a college town as well as home to many families and businesses with around 270,000 residents calling the city home. So again, I just don't understand what the rationale for the lack of body cameras is. According to Chief Patterson, it's a lack of funding. But I am very well aware that most police departments are actually given quite a bit of money. So maybe you just need to spread your funding to different things. I don't know.
And it's confusing because even Chief Patterson himself has come forward talking about how important body cameras are. Just last month, he called them an essential tool for modern policing.
Previously, there had been a 90-day body cam pilot program for the Madison Police Department back in 2024, but nothing came of it. On the eve of Corey's murder, Chief Patterson made a statement saying, I want to take a moment to honestly and sincerely offer my heartfelt sympathies to his family for this loss. This actually surprised me. I feel like most of the time a police chief is going to be protecting their own in the fact that Patterson has come forward to be very vulnerable is something that I'm not used to. I am still not a big fan because he is running this police department that is responsible for the death of Corey Ruiz, but I did find that very surprising that he would come forward with such a heartfelt message for Corey's family. The officer who fired the deadly shots has not yet been identified at the time of my recording this episode, but according to Patterson, he's someone he'd consider a veteran officer. All four of the officers that were at the scene have been placed on administrative leave, which as I've said in the past, is routine practice as they begin their investigation. Madison's mayor, Satya Rhodes Conway, said she was angered and saddened by what had happened. She added in a statement, Any officer involved shooting needs to be rigorously investigated and this one will be. While we do not yet know all the details, our community deserves full transparency and accountability. Governor Tony Evers also called for transparency in the investigation. I truly hope accountability comes.