What Are We Fighting For?
we all want justice for Corey Ruiz but disagree on how to get it
In the days following the killing of Corey Ruiz, a wide range of voices have shared their own visions for justice. These voices include 1) Corey Ruiz’s family; 2) the organizers of the No Kill Zone; 3) the Madison Community Response Team; 4) Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement (WiBOPM), Freedom, Inc., and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) ; and 5) the hundreds upon hundreds of community members joining protests and public meetings in the past week.
More recently, Alan Robinson for Madison365 and activists from Dare to Struggle Chicago have written assessments of the state of the movement. They agree that the movement has to move toward disciplined organization, clear political objectives, and strategic thinking to create a movement capable of sustaining pressure after the news cycle ends.
Everyone agrees on justice for Corey Ruiz. But there is a disagreement about how folks believe change can be won.
Some (like Freedom Inc.) emphasize institutional accountability: criminal prosecution, civilian oversight, public transparency, and policy reform through existing governmental bodies. Others (like Dare to Struggle Chicago) argue that lasting change depends on sustained grassroots organizing and mass mobilization capable of shifting the political balance of power outside formal institutions, building independent movements that can compel those institutions to change.
This essay attempts to synthesize the main demands, goals, tactics, targets, and long-term vision that have surfaced across all of these many conversations. It is not an official platform of any single organization, but an attempt to identify the movement’s common agenda as it continues to develop. My main form of editorializing is by bolding and highlighting the demands and tactics that seem the most popular and (in my opinion) impactful.
As a lodestone, the original demands from the family are:
DEMANDS
Arrest the officer responsible for Corey Ruiz’s killing.
Require MPD and DCI to fully comply with the Office of the Independent Police Monitor by providing any information, evidence, and materials requested for an independent review.
Give the Civilian Oversight Board meaningful disciplinary authority so it can hold officers accountable for misconduct.
Call the Dane County District Attorney and demand action: (608) 266-1221
Concrete demands
The people’s demands include both immediate accountability for the killing of Corey Ruiz and longer-term structural reforms to police oversight and public safety.
I’ve divided these demands into six main categories: 1) justice for Corey Ruiz, 2) independent oversight, 3) police accountability reform, 4) democratic governance, 5) community investment, and 6) public memorialization.
Accountability for Corey Ruiz
Arrest Officer Kiel Peterson for the killing of Corey Ruiz. ←←←
Fire Officer Kiel Peterson.
Deny paid administrative leave for officers involved in unlawful killings. ←←←
Conduct a complete, transparent investigation into the shooting.
Immediately release all available evidence, including body-worn camera footage, dash camera footage, nearby surveillance footage, audio recordings, and other relevant evidence consistent with legal requirements.
Publish a complete timeline of the police use of force.
Ensure full transparency throughout the investigation and charging process.
Independent oversight
Conduct a fully independent investigation through the Office of the Independent Police Monitor in addition to state investigators.
Require MPD to provide the Independent Police Monitor with complete access to all evidence and investigative materials consistent with Madison ordinances.
Protect the Office of the Independent Police Monitor and Police Civilian Oversight Board (PCOB) from political interference.
Increase the authority, independence, and investigative capacity of civilian oversight institutions.
Fund civilian oversight at 2–5% of the Madison Police Department budget, consistent with recommendations from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE).
Police accountability reform
Reopen the Richard Lee Johnson case for criminal review consistent with the Independent Monitor’s findings.
Remove Officer Matt Kenny from any current or future MPD training roles.
Reevaluate accountability for previous police killings, including the killing of Tony Robinson.
Democratic governance
Remove proposed police oversight amendments from the August 4 agenda.(THIS DEMAND HAS BEEN WON.)Draft oversight reforms through a transparent public process rather than closed-door negotiations.
Make the Police Civilian Oversight Board a co-author of future oversight legislation from the outset.
Restore public trust through open meetings, public participation, and meaningful community input.
Community investment
Expand non-police crisis response. ←←←
Increase investment in permanent supportive housing.
Expand mental health care, addiction treatment, and case management.
Shift public investment from reactive policing toward prevention, housing, and community care.
Memorialization and public space
Converting portions of Willy Street into a pedestrian- and bicycle-priority corridor.
Creating a permanent memorial and anti-police brutality education center at the site where Tony Robinson was killed.
Developing additional public memorials that commemorate victims of police violence.
Please remember the original three demands from the family, while also recognizing the dozens of other demands that have also emerged in the wake. What demands get us closer to our main shared priority: justice for Corey Ruiz?
Goals of the movement
It seems that people mainly want two things: justice for Corey Ruiz while also confronting the larger systems that produced the conditions surrounding his death.
People want to build a city where police violence is meaningfully prevented, misconduct is transparently investigated, civilian oversight has real authority, and people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, or addiction receive care and support.
Secure justice and accountability for Corey Ruiz. ←←←
Hold police officers to the same legal standards as everyone else.
Build independent civilian oversight with real investigative power.
Increase transparency around police use of force.
Reduce police involvement in situations involving homelessness, mental illness, and substance use. ←←←
Redirect public investment toward housing, healthcare, and prevention.
Build a durable coalition capable of sustaining political pressure and winning structural reforms.
Specific tactics
Everyone is trying something different, which makes the strategy a bit complicated and multi-pronged: institutional pressure, public mobilization, policy advocacy, and grassroots organizing.
Community Organizing
Organizing directly affected communities, including unhoused residents. ←←←
Building sustained relationships across neighborhoods and organizations.
Using mutual aid as a pathway into long-term political organizing rather than an end in itself.
Public Mobilization
Mass demonstrations, marches, rallies, and vigils. ←←←
Media campaigns and public education.
Coalition building across community organizations.
Legal Accountability
Criminal complaints and prosecution.
Police and Fire Commission complaints.
Independent Police Monitor investigations.
Public records requests and demands for evidence release.
Public testimony before the Common Council and oversight bodies.
Policy Change
Budget advocacy during city budget deliberations.
Demands for increased funding and authority for oversight institutions.
Public pressure campaigns targeting elected officials and decision-makers.
Specific targets
People mainly agree that there has not yet been enough attention paid to directing community demands toward the officials with the authority to act.
Police Accountability
Officer Kiel Baitinger-Peterson. ←←←
Officer Matt Kenny.
The Madison Police Department.
The Professional Police Officers Association.
The Madison Police and Fire Commission.
The Office of the Independent Police Monitor.
The Police Civilian Oversight Board.
Investigative Authorities
The Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The Dane County District Attorney. ←←←
Public Safety Decision-Makers
The Mayor of Madison.
The Madison Common Council. ←←←
Dane County officials responsible for behavioral health and crisis response.
The Wisconsin Legislature.
Personally, I would like to add a few targets to this list: I want to know about the quality of the services that Corey Ruiz received at Porchlight, Inc. and the city’s other homeless services organizations. I want to know how the Dane County Board of Supervisors will increase funding for supportive housing and expand behavioral health services.
End game
So… what is the end game? What is our winning condition? When does our fight end?
Broadly, the vision is a city where:
Police officers who unlawfully use deadly force are held criminally and professionally accountable.
People experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, or addiction are met first with housing, healthcare, and trained crisis responders rather than armed police. ←←←
Independent civilian oversight bodies have the authority, staffing, and resources needed to investigate police misconduct effectively.
Police use of force is subject to robust transparency and democratic oversight.
Justice for Corey Ruiz means accountability for what happened, but it also means building the political power necessary to ensure that no family has to fight the same fight again.
This was really helpful. Thank you for synthesizing all this information, Amadi! You’ve also posed some important questions that I’d like to know more about as well.