A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For more about how people in Madison are reacting to the shooting, we've called Brandi Grayson. She's the founder and CEO of Urban Triage. That's a community advocacy group in Madison, Wisconsin. Brandi, we've heard some of the reaction of people in Madison. What about from the people that you know and have been talking to? What kind of reaction are you hearing from them?
BRANDI GRAYSON: Thank you for having me. The reaction is horror, rage, anger. We are watching and have watched from multiple angles the murder of another Black man in the street in daylight. And you just don't have words for it. It's like, what do you do? And we have - we know the results. We know that they're going to gaslight us. We know the chief of police is going to do what the chief of police does consistently in our community, is tell us, oh, we're going to investigate this as a homicide. We're going to do our due diligence. We're here to hear you. We want to host listening sessions. We want to be part of your, you know, the solution.
But we know what white supremacy racism looks like at play. The story has been the same for decades. The story is the same here in Madison, as it was in Minneapolis, in numerous areas across our country. Racism looks like cops being unable to dis-escalate (ph) situations when it comes to Black skin, Black bodies and Black mental wellness. Instead of facing Black folks who are suffering with care, they're faced with gun violence.
It's ironic because then the story gets to - it gets changed and gets focused on his criminal history, his - what he did to - the story is the same. Like, what did he do? What happened leading up to that? It absolutely does not matter what happened leading up to that moment.
MARTÍNEZ: So let me actually get - let me give police's account of what happened...
GRAYSON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...According to police. They say that Ruiz was armed with a knife...
GRAYSON: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...That he fought back against police and that he eluded them at one point.
GRAYSON: Sure.
MARTÍNEZ: So what does accountability going forward look like to you?
GRAYSON: I don't know if there is accountability, but I think there's a couple of things we must recognize is that this same police department also murdered Richard Lee Johnson, which is not part of the conversation. He was a Black man that was in custody in December 2024, and the police said that he died of an overdose in their custody. We were watching the videos of five police on top of his neck and putting him in the police car, dash cams, like you said, begging for his life. They put him in the cell. He dies. They - the medical examiner reports it as a drug overdose.
Our independent monitor comes in and says, actually, that wasn't a drug overdose. They - he died because of the negligence of the police. He died because of the injuries he suffered because of the police. So this system is - this is the same story. It just looks different. The story is that Corey slashed the police. The knife is seen on the floor. You see it on the ground. You see different angles. He does - Corey has mental health. The officers who murdered him knew Corey. This is a small city. This isn't New York. Like, everybody here...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
GRAYSON: ...Knows each other. We know the members in our community who are suffering from mental health crisis. We know the homeless population. The police who murdered him knew him. He was well known in that neighborhood. He was always around. And yes, he was called because someone said that he was looking through cars. He jumps on his bike. The police hits him with their bike. They don't tell you that. He falls off the bike. Three police officers are on him. One police calls, knife. You see the knife fall. They tase him. He falls. The police shoots - stands over him and shoots him three times.
MARTÍNEZ: The three shots in the video. Yeah.
GRAYSON: Yeah. It was horrific. There's no reason for this to have had to happen. It could have been de-escalated. And what we know is that they're not going to be - hold the police department accountable. It's the same story.
MARTÍNEZ: Brandi, in the short amount of time that we have left, is there something about Corey Ruiz's life that you think has moved so many people to speak out and demonstrate?
GRAYSON: I think because the story is he was a criminal. Look at his history. He's a criminal. But a person's humanity and defending their humanity is not predicated on their history, right? It - and it's the same story. Black man suffering mental health crisis. It's the same thing that happened with Tony Robinson. He was suffering. He needed care. They blew him away, shot him seven times on the steps. Same neighborhood, a Black down. It's the same story, same response. People are tired. And with everything that's happening in our world, we want justice. We want accountability. And we want it now.
MARTÍNEZ: Brandi Grayson is the founder and CEO of Urban Triage. Brandi, thank you.
GRAYSON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE'S "RESERVOIR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
