Protesters blockade Wisconsin street where felon was killed after knifing cop and the city is helping them

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters have blockaded two trendy blocks in downtown Madison, Wisconsin a week after armed serial felon Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by police — erecting barricades similar to the infamous 2020 “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in SeattleAnd the city of Madison — home to the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin — is helping them by providing portable toilets and other resources.Neighbors have had enough, telling WMTV 15 News they feel “trapped” by the rapidly expanding protest zone.“I feel the protest has turned into a very disrespectful occupation focused on punishing Willy Street for the incident,” one local told the outlet on condition of anonymity.“It is now a lawless zone and homeless encampment barricaded on all four sides with groups blocking local residences and businesses from surviving.”Some protesters have already declared it the “Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone” — or “CRAZ” — a nod to the lawless Seattle CHAZ or Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP).

Footage captured by local reporters shows the corner of South Baldwin Street and Williamson Street — known locally as Willy Street — typically a bustling, mixed-use thoroughfare in the heart of downtown, strewn with piles of trash and marred with graffiti.The two-block section of Williamson Street near where the fatal July 22 shooting took place has been officially closed off, a large statue of the Black Lives Matter fist erected in the middle of the intersection surrounded by what appears to be a community garden.Banners and signs reading “Justice for Corey” and “Say his name” could be seen draped over the fronts of local businesses, which include a bar, a beauty salon, a jewelry shop, and a handful of other small shops.Journal Sentinel reporter Laura Schulte wrote on X that she’s heard the cordoned off area referred to as CRAZ, eerily similar to CHAZ, a violent takeover of city streets in Seattle protesting the murde...