Tow notices have been posted on vehicles blocking Madison’s Williamson and Baldwin intersection as Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, for a fourth straight day, demanded the encampment end immediately.
The mayor said the nearly 2-week occupation that followed Corey Ruiz’s July 22 fatal police shooting is now hurting residents and businesses and preventing the city from creating a memorial centered on Ruiz.
Rhodes-Conway said Madison cannot deliver the arrest or charging demands raised by protesters because any criminal case would depend on a Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation and a decision by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne.
Encampment organizers split over the next step: Maleyk Mason rejected the mayor’s push to clear the site, while Alan Robinson said streets should reopen and organizers would keep pressing city leaders on broader systemic issues.
The city also said it did not pay for porta-potties at the site and warned the supplier to remove them or face citations and fines, signaling a broader effort to dismantle the protest infrastructure.