Demonstrators issue demands the morning after violent protests, statues toppled

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The morning after day-long protests turned violent, ending in property damage, two landmark statues being toppled, and an alleged attack on a state senator, a spokesperson who said she represented “a united front of organizers and activists for black liberation” issued a series of demands.

The spokesperson, Ebony Anderson-Carter, said she was speaking on behalf of multiple groups. In her statement, she said they were demanding the release of the man whose arrest Tuesday afternoon triggered the protests. The groups also demanded a Madison Police Department officer be fired and that the department itself be defunded and the money be “reallocated to the community.”

“The Madison Police Department serves and protects profit not people because they would have protected us when we were being hit out here and not being violent,” she said.

Anderson-Carter went on to describe the groups’ efforts as “a revolutionary fight” for human rights on behalf of all oppressed people.

“Please don’t take the actions out here as violence. Please don’t take that actions out here as misconstrued either,” she urged. “Take these actions as voices.”

Anderson-Carter concluded by saying the groups were asking for a dialogue.

Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement Wednesday morning calling the violence wrong and warning he is willing to activate the National Guard to protect state property and work with local law enforcement.

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