Dylan Brogan
The hours-long, peaceful protest in Madison in response to the death of Minneapolis’ George Floyd was over by 4:30 p.m. on May 30. Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain says his department was getting ready to send officers home for the day.
“Our people on the street were saying that people were leaving, that the protest was ending. We took a deep breath and a sigh of relief,” says DeSpain. “We upheld the First Amendment. We helped people pass through streets safely. We survived the day without major confrontations.”
Around 3,000 people participated in the official protest — organized by Freedom Inc. and Urban Triage — without incident for four hours. After marching around the Capitol to outside the Dane County jail, down East Washington Avenue en route to Williamson Street, then back to the Square — an over 3-mile trek — nearly all the demonstrators, including the organizers, went home.
But around 150 people, according to acting Police Chief Vic Wahl, didn’t end up leaving the downtown area. Wahl said during a Sunday morning press conference that some in the group were carrying sticks and that their behavior was “distinct from what we had seen earlier in the day.” He said the crowd followed and harassed officers as police returned to the City County Building.
DeSpain says at 5:04 p.m. a squad car was smashed at the intersection of Doty Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Officers reported a crowd of people was moving towards State Street by 5:20 p.m.
“At 5:35 p.m., dispatch reported someone breaking the window at Goodman’s Jewelers with a baseball bat,” says DeSpain. “Our special events team, in [riot] gear, aren’t even heading towards State Street by 5:40 p.m.”
Cory Correia, owner of Isthmus Tattoo & Social Club right next door to Goodman’s, says he was in his shop tattooing around that time.
“All of sudden, we see a giant crowd of people standing outside. Then I heard glass shattering next door,” says Correia. “That’s when everything got nuts very quickly.”
One protester, who asked to remain anonymous, says a handful of people in the crowd didn’t want the demonstration to end. The timeline of the protester’s account matches the record shared with Isthmus by DeSpain.
“People were really fired up. Angry and for good reason. They had seen what was happening in other cities. They wanted to take more direct action,” says the protester. “Others just stuck around because you could feel the heat in the air. During that first hour, I didn't notice any outside agitators. These were people from Madison, mostly young people. Some were saying that a peaceful protest just wasn’t good enough.”
There were some other protesters that pleaded to get looters to stop, including outside Goodman’s Jewelers, the anonymous person told Isthmus.
“One woman, on a megaphone, stood on a cop car and shouted, ‘This is not who we are. This is not what we do,’” says the protester. “But at that point, people just didn’t want to hear it.”
When some began forcing their way into a jewelry store, said Wahl, “we felt compelled to intervene and declare an unlawful assembly.” He said it was at that point that police, wearing technical gear, responded to the scene. About 10 minutes after Goodman’s window was smashed, DeSpain says police warned chemical agents would be used to disperse the crowd.
Isthmus witnessed police form a line of officers at the intersection of Johnson and State streets at 5:56 p.m. A block away, diners were still sipping drinks on restaurant patios. Officers then began marching forward using pepper spray guns to push the crowd down State. Some protesters returned fire with water bottles, rocks and chairs.
“A lot of people who got pepper sprayed were just walking with the crowd and I’m not sure they knew what was going on. Everything just turned into utter chaos,” says the protester. “And as the police push everyone down State Street, that’s when all these onlookers, and white college students and all these other people, got sucked in. There were a lot of people around. And only a few broke windows.”
Police moved up and down State Street trying to move protesters who were overturning city planters and smashing windows, eventually installing temporary fences trying to block people from entering the pedestrian mall. DeSpain says it was a “literal powder keg.”
“I have great sympathy for compassionate people who were the recipient of what police call a chemical agent. Pepper spray. They didn’t deserve that,” says DeSpain. “But there are limited options to restore order or even try to hold the line when businesses are being broken into. In other places in the country, they are using rubber bullets. We aren’t doing that. I think the response was the best potential remedy for the situation.”
Dylan Brogan
A man after being pepper sprayed on State Street.
Before the night was over, dozens of businesses across the city had windows smashed or were burglarized. Onlookers, who had not been protesting all day, arrived to witness the event. Others, likely, came downtown just to take part in destruction. Law enforcement officers from Dane County and surrounding counties were called in to bolster Madison’s police force. Police were responding to businesses with tripped burglary alarms well into Sunday morning while confrontations with police continued downtown.
“We had a police squad that was set ablaze and we discovered an AR-15 [rifle] had been stolen out of it. So now we have someone running in the street with an AR-15,” says DeSpain. “Last night was horrible...I’m just so happy we didn’t lose a life because it could have gone that way.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway issued an emergency order and imposed a curfew on the city’s isthmus at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. There were still around 30 people congregated at the top of State Street at 1:00 a.m. and the situation was tense at times. There were chants of “No justice, no peace” directed at a line of officers in riot gear blocking entry onto the rest of the State. Some taunted and threatened police.
“You’re fucking pigs. You fucking racist pieces of shit,” said one young black woman through a megaphone inches from an officer’s face. “Why do you want to murder me? Why are you so afraid of me?”
Brandy Busjahn traveled from Monroe “just to see what was happening.”
“If this was all about looting, there would be a lot more businesses looted and a lot more shit taken,” says Busjahn. “We are just here to see if anything pops off and to witness it.”
Dylan Brogan
A young man dressed as a Medieval-era knight at the top of State Street after police secured most of downtown.
A young man wearing a suit of armor, wielding a wooden staff, stood guard right behind people hurling insults at police.
“[The armor] was collecting dust so I thought I’d break it out. I figured I’d check out what was happening,” says the man. “Everything is pretty fucked. I saw the video of George Floyd’s death. I get why people are angry. I don’t support looting but I get why it happens.”
A group of four young, white men from Illinois — who traveled to Madison after hearing about looting — stood on the edges of the crowd with long guns. One of the men, who didn’t want to give his name, said, “We are here to protect people from cops.”
“We want to make sure that nobody is opening. That these police aren’t out here killing people,” says the man, a large gun slung across his shoulder. “There were also a bunch of threats of people coming out here and attacking protesters. So we are here to make sure protesters are safe.”
George, who didn’t want to give his last name, heard about the destruction in Madison and came down with a few friends from Fond du Lac to personally witness the mayhem.
“We were dead bored and thought, ‘Why not?’ This shit is wild,” says George. “No, we are not here to loot. But fuck the cops.”
Marquis Williams Lawrence, who grew up in Madison and attended West High School, says he was downtown because “we live in a society where black and brown people are valued less.”
“Nobody is causing destruction or looting here right now. But there are lots of people who are advocating non-violence that are here to support people who are getting a little rowdy,” says Williams Lawrence. “People are tired. I’m tired. I don’t support looting or violence or vandalism. But if we wanted to loot, we’d do it every day.”
Around 1:20 a.m., what sounded like a glass bottle broke in front of the police line; there was a moment where several people backed away quickly and it appeared things could escalate. But law enforcement just continued to silently hold the line. There was no pepper spray, tear gas, or any attempt to disperse the small band of protesters and onlookers when this reporter left the scene.
Rhodes-Conway has issued another curfew beginning Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. through 6 a.m. Monday morning. Wahl has requested the Wisconsin National Guard assist in preserving order. The chief promises a “robust” police presence downtown to enforce the curfew.