Protesters in Madison, Wisconsin, allegedly attacked Democrat State Sen. Tim Carpenter during Tuesday night’s protests after he tried to take a picture of a demonstration.
Carpenter posted a video of what led up to the alleged assault, claiming that “8-10 people” attacked him. The short video shows two protesters rushing up to him and grabbing his phone.
“I took this pic- it got me assaulted & beat up. Punched/kicked in the head, neck, ribs,” Carpenter said on social media. “Maybe concussion, socked in left eye is little blurry, sore neck & ribs. 8-10 people attacked me. Innocent people are going to get killed. Capitol locked- stuck in office.Stop violence nowPlz!”
An Isthmus journalist also reported that Carpenter was “punched in the face by Madison protesters because he was filming,” noting that “several” people attacked him:
“I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head,” Carpenter told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter following the alleged attack:
“I want to be clear: violence against any person — whether in the middle of the street in broad daylight, at home trying to sleep, going for a run, or happening upon a protest as was the case last night — is wrong,” Gov. Tony Evers (D) said in a statement. “It should never be tolerated.”
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the recent protests were largely spurred by the arrest of a black man who “brought a bullhorn and baseball bat into Cooper’s Tavern, a restaurant on the Capitol square”:
“Officers attempted to place him under arrest for his actions inside the restaurant,” the Madison police officers wrote in a report. “Johnson resisted arrest and struggled with officers … Johnson was able to push past officers and escape from the squad car before being tackled as he attempted to escape.”
Protesters also “broke glass at the Tommy Thompson Center on West Washington Avenue, smashed windows and lights at the state Capitol, and set a small fire at the Dane County jail before police arrived just before 1 a.m.,” the outlet reported.
Additionally, protesters toppled the “Forward” statue outside of the State Capitol, dragging it into the road and sprinkling baking soda over the statue’s face. Vandals also targeted the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, “an immigrant from Norway who died fighting for the Union against slavery,” beheading the statue and dumping the body of the figure into a lake, as Breitbart News reported:
“Forgive my language, but I don’t care about being ‘senatorial’ anymore. The time for platitudes is over. This is bullshit,” Wisconsin State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) said following Tuesday night’s chaos, providing part of his official statement in a thread on social media.
“An innocent bystander, a state senator who has largely stood with the BLM movement, was attacked for watching and taking a picture. I am praying Tim will be okay,” he said. “This isn’t about protesting anymore. This is about mindless violence and destruction.”
“Madison city officials are letting it happen. Someone in Madison city government should be held accountable,” he continued. “Arrests need to be made. It is clear Madison is incapable of protecting either life or property. Whether that is because of inability or incompetent leadership is unknown.”
Wanggaard ultimately called on the governor to call out the National Guard to quell the violent unrest:
“What happened in Madison last night presented a stark contrast from the peaceful protests we have seen across our state in recent weeks, including significant damage to state property,” Evers said in a statement, adding that they “are prepared to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to protect state buildings and infrastructure and are continuing to work with local law enforcement to understand their response to last night’s events and their plan to respond to similar events in the future.”