An Officer-Involved Shooting in Madison Revealed the Dangerous Anti-Cop Agenda of WI Democrats

Yesterday afternoon, Madison police confronted a man who was reportedly trying to break into vehicles. That suspect fled the scene but was later encountered by police again. That man was either taken off of or fell off his bicycle, and struggled with police. During that altercation, the man reportedly pulled a knife and injured an officer.

The officer then shot the suspect, who died.

Here’s more from NBC News:

Police responded to the Marquette neighborhood about 1 p.m. after a report of someone checking parked cars, Madison Police Chief John Patterson said at a news conference. The person fled on a bicycle, but officers re-encountered him around 1:35 p.m., Patterson said.

The man “either fell off or was taken off of the bicycle by officers,” and there was a struggle with police in the intersection, Patterson said.

“During the struggle, the man, we’re told, pulled out a knife or produced a knife, a fixed-blade knife, and an officer was injured by this while attempting to arrest him,” Patterson said.

Police included a photo of the knife, which appears to be a large kitchen knife.

#Waukesha County Sheriff Capt. Nick Ollinger, who is running for sheriff against John Gscheidmeier, just called me and said he wanted to weigh in on the #Madison police shooting and the statements by #Democrat governor candidates David Crowley and Francesca Hong (the latter… pic.twitter.com/nVIhvKSZlw

— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) July 23, 2026

The shooting prompted a strong response from residents and Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong, the current frontrunner in the chaotic Democratic primary.

I’m on Willy St in Madison where earlier today police shot and killed a man after receiving a call of someone checking cars in the area. The crowd is chanting, and tempers are running high pic.twitter.com/NhAo6DYCUu

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) July 22, 2026

Here’s Hong’s statement on the shooting, and it’s incredibly inflammatory and irresponsible.

Here is Francesca Hong’s statement on the fatal police shooting in Madison pic.twitter.com/T7ZRNzJiIB

— Drake Bentley (@drake_bentley) July 22, 2026

It reads in part (emphasis added):

This afternoon, Madison police shot and killed a black man just a few blocks from our campaign office and just a few blocks from where Madison police murdered Tony Robinson in 2015.

I am horrified and devastated. My heart goes out to his loved ones and everyone who witnessed this tragic event. Our entire community is grieving.

The bystander video is heartbreaking. It shows multiple officers surrounding and restraining the man on the ground while another officer fired at least three shots at close range. This was an execution, and it never should have happened.

Madison police must immediately preserve and release all body-camera, dash-camera, and surveillance footage. Officials must answer the public about what officers knew, why they were unable to de-escalate the situation safely, and why an officer used deadly force against a man who was surrounded and appeared to be restrained.

Even the Dane County DA said the shooting of Robinson was justified and didn’t file charges.

So before reviewing any of the evidence, Hong has summarily declared this an execution. And there won’t be body camera footage because the Madison city council refuses to pay for Madison police to wear body cameras. In fact, the police chief was pushing for them again this month.

The Madison police keep asking for them (as recent as this month) and the council keeps shooting them down. https://t.co/1aCZ0PJvwn

— uncreativ (@uncreativ1) July 23, 2026

How convenient that the council won’t fund them. We all know why, too. It exposes the insanity police deal with and busts the Democrats’ narrative.

Madison police should have body cams and the fact that progressives block it is a real shame

— Matt Henkel (@mhenks05) July 22, 2026

That allows people like Hong to go out and incite the crowd against police.

“This state-sanctioned violence was an execution” – Democrat frontrunner Fran Hong inciting a crowd against police right now in #Madison.

“We no longer can have a system that protects a power and a privilege that puts the pain and lives of armed officers over black people. We… https://t.co/jghlli51Tu

— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) July 23, 2026

“We no longer can have a system that protects a power and a privilege that puts the pain and lives of armed officers over black people. We can not protect a system that continues to rain harm and terror,” Hong said.

She has repeatedly called for the abolition of prisons and the defunding of police in favor of “public safety.”

“Police don’t need to be defunded, and abolished.”-Hong last week. “We no longer can have a system that protects a power, and a privilege of police officers over black people.”-Hong today https://t.co/GgXT7jZ7xt

— Andy Manske (@Andy_ManskeWI) July 23, 2026

Hong’s opponent, David Crowley, also issued a statement and it wasn’t much better.

I am horrified by the reports coming out of Madison about a man who was shot and killed in the street by police officers.

My heart is with the individual’s loved ones, who are now facing an unimaginable loss, and with the entire Madison community as it grapples with this tragedy pic.twitter.com/zqkAVHHLAn

— David Crowley (@DavidCCrowley) July 22, 2026

Here’s some of what Crowley said (emphasis added):

While details are still emerging and a full accounting of what happened is still needed, these reports are painfully reminiscent of the tragedies we have witnessed in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and far too many communities across our country. Each incident reopens deep wounds, raises difficult questions, and reminds us of the urgent work that remains to build trust, transparency, and accountability in our systems.

My heart is with the individual’s loved ones, who are now facing an unimaginable loss, and with the entire Madison community as it grapples with this tragedy.

Neither Crowley nor Hong has any concern for the police or their families.

And in Kenosha, Jacob Blake had a knife and was attempting to abduct children when police shot him. That’s omitted from Crowley’s statement.

It cannot be overstated how dangerous Hong is, and how she would lead Wisconsin if she won the governor’s race in November.

What Francesca Hong just did and said with a megaphone in the middle of an angry crowd – stating that we can’t protect the system anymore and playing on racial trauma – after an officer shot a man who cut him with a knife… it’s the worst thing I have ever seen a Wisconsin…

— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) July 23, 2026

“What Francesca Hong just did and said with a megaphone in the middle of an angry crowd – stating that we can’t protect the system anymore and playing on racial trauma – after an officer shot a man who cut him with a knife … it’s the worst thing I have ever seen a Wisconsin politician do. She is dangerous. To the social order. To the state. And to the country,” the post reads.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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