MADISON, Wis. — The National Police Accountability Project (NPAP), a nonprofit dedicated to ending law enforcement overreach and abuse of power, published a press release condemning the death of Corey Ruiz, a Madison man who was fatally shot by local police officers Wednesday. The organization also criticized a proposal to reduce the independence of Madison’s civilian police oversight boards, calling the timing “completely inappropriate.”
According to an NBC News article, Ruiz was a suspect in a nonviolent crime after residents in a nearby neighborhood reported a man “stealing bicycles and checking vehicle doors.” Officers located Ruiz, who matched the description, “but he biked off” to the “intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson streets.”
There, Ruiz “either fell or was pulled off the bicycle” by the officers. The article states that it remains unclear whether Ruiz was actually responsible for the reported bicycle theft.
During “a struggle with four officers,” Ruiz was restrained and reportedly attempted to grab a knife in his possession before being shot. While “police said that lifesaving measures were performed at the scene,” Ruiz was eventually “pronounced dead” at the hospital.
“Hundreds gathered Thursday evening” in honor of Ruiz, “where heads were bowed for a moment of silence.” NPAP does not believe deadly force was the only option in the encounter and called on the Madison Police Department to “expand alternative response models before resorting to deadly force.”
“No mother, spouse, or child should ever get the phone call that Corey Ruiz’s family did yesterday,” said Lauren Bonds, executive director of NPAP. According to the organization’s press release, Ruiz was African American, and Bonds fears that race contributed to the officers’ decision to escalate the encounter. “They saw a Black man with a knife, and shot him.”
“Police officers kill an average of three people every day in the U.S.,” and, as NPAP stated in its press release, those killed are “mostly people of color.”
“Anti-Black bias might be part of U.S. culture,” Bonds said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to stand for it. Black men deserve to grow old too.”
This is not the first time Madison has been involved in a police brutality controversy. As recalled in an article by The Guardian, Tony Robinson, a “biracial 19-year-old,” was shot while unarmed in 2015. “One irreversible decision, a single group of officers sets” more than a decade of “progress back yesterday,” Bonds said.
According to NPAP’s press release, progress had been made. The organization said that “due to years of community advocacy and leadership after Robinson’s shooting death, the Madison Common Council established” two oversight entities: “the Police Civilian Oversight Board (PCOB) and Office of the Independent Police Monitor (OIM).”
According to NPAP, both boards “independently monitor police operations,” “hold the police accountable,” and have the organization’s support. NPAP said it has appeared before both boards to provide assistance.
However, according to NPAP, the Madison Common Council is “considering amendments to reduce” the boards’ independence. In the wake of another potentially racially motivated killing, Bonds said such action would be inappropriate.
“Madison residents and Mr. Ruiz’s family deserve nothing short of an independent review by the PCOB,” Bonds said, expressing frustration with what she described as the board’s limited authority. “The community has been demanding police wear body cameras for years. The fact that this still hasn’t happened — in 2026 — is a travesty.”
“Reducing the PCOB’s independence would be completely inappropriate,” Bonds said, adding that Madison residents “are relying on bystander footage to show us what really happened.”
“All of the officers involved will be placed on administrative leave pending an independent investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation,” according to the NBC News article. But the officers are not Bonds’ primary concern. “Most importantly, a father is dead.”
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