Devonere Johnson, a Black man, was arrested Tuesday after he was seen on video carrying a bat and moving around inside and outside of a restaurant while speaking into a bullhorn, police said in an incident report. He escaped the squad car before being tackled, the report said.
He has been tentatively charged with disorderly conduct while armed, resisting arrest and attempted escape.
On Tuesday, people marched around downtown Madison frustrated after Johnson’s arrest, according to CNN affiliate WKOW
Protests have swept across the country since the death of George Floyd in police custody, some resulting in Confederate statues being torn down by cities and protesters alike. But boiled over frustrations in Madison led to the toppling of monuments unrelated to the Confederacy.
A group tore down the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg and threw it into Lake Monona, the station reported. Heg was a Norwegian migrant who fought for the Union in the Civil War, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The group also pulled down the Forward statue outside the State Capitol — which the Wisconsin Historical Society said symbolizes devotion and progress, WKOW said.
Democratic state Senator Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee was present for the overnight protests and said he was assaulted after taking a picture, the station reported.
WKOW said its crew called 911 to get him an ambulance.
“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 reporter of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview following the assault.
CNN has reached out to Carpenter and the Madison Police Department regarding the incident.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/ngyUBdQP4bA/index.html
