Protesters Blockade Wisconsin Street Where Felon Was Killed After Knifing Cop — and City’s Helping

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters have blockaded two trendy blocks in downtown Madison, Wisconsin a week after armed serial felon Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by police — erecting barricades similar to the infamous 2020 “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in Seattle

And the city of Madison — home to the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin — is helping them by providing portable toilets and other resources.

Neighbors have had enough, telling WMTV 15 News they feel “trapped” by the rapidly expanding protest zone.

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Some protesters have already declared it the “Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone” — or “CRAZ” — a nod to the lawless Seattle CHAZ or Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP).

Footage captured by local reporters shows the corner of South Baldwin Street and Williamson Street — known locally as Willy Street — typically a bustling, mixed-use thoroughfare in the heart of downtown, strewn with piles of trash and marred with graffiti.

The two-block section of Williamson Street near where the fatal July 22 shooting took place has been officially closed off, a large statue of the Black Lives Matter fist erected in the middle of the intersection surrounded by what appears to be a community garden.

Banners and signs reading “Justice for Corey” and “Say his name” could be seen draped over the fronts of local businesses, which include a bar, a beauty salon, a jewelry shop, and a handful of other small shops.

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As was seen with CHAZ, city leaders in Madison have fallen all over themselves to be accommodating, setting up portable toilets for the protesters holding sit-ins on shabby lawn chairs or milling about the desecrated city center.

Alder Davy Mayer, a self-described activist whose District 6 encompasses the area, told WMTV 15 News the city was also bringing in salt trucks to replace the barriers the protesters threw together from stolen trash cans, wood palettes and nails.

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