Family of a man who was shot and killed by Madison police says he was 'exceptional'
MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison police officer who shot and killed Corey Ruiz on a busy street should face criminal charges, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Friday, after protests erupted in anger over videos showing the struggle.
“They not only tackled him, not only tased him, not only kicked him, but you saw they shot him three times in his head and other parts of his body,” Crump said.
He spoke at an emotional news conference that took place in the state Capitol, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from where Ruiz was killed.
“He was my love. He loved his daughter, he loved his family. He did not deserve to be taken out like that. They took my baby from me,” his mother Elsa Ruiz said, breaking down in tears. She said she never imagined she would be burying her son, who was 38.
Police say Ruiz pulled a knife during a struggle with four officers, injuring one of them. That officer then fired the shots, according to police. The officer has not yet been identified.
All four officers have been placed on administrative leave pending a state investigation. A separate investigation by the city’s independent police monitor is also underway.
Ruiz died just a couple of blocks from his 13-year-old daughter’s home, and she will have to walk past that spot every time she goes to school, her mother Marjorie Ann Aliomar said.
Kah’liyah Ruiz cried as she described learning of her father’s death.
“My heart was broken and hurt so much knowing I can’t see my father any more,” she said.
“People are saying he’s a criminal. So what? He had a family, he had me,” his daughter said, breaking down into tears.
The family promised to seek justice for Ruiz’s death and were accompanied by Crump, who called the shooting an unjustified “execution.”
“Anytime there is excessive use of force, there should be accountability,” Crump said. He said it was “shocking on every level.”
The shooting was captured on cellphone video that was widely shared online, though Madison Police Chief John Patterson cautioned Thursday that the video did not show the altercation from the police officers’ perspective.
But unlike nearly every other similarly sized city, Madison doesn’t require its police to use body-worn cameras, so there is no footage from the officers’ perspective.
“Thank God there was video,” Crump said. “If there wasn’t video, imagine what the narrative would have been.”
