Two women arrested in beating of state Sen. Tim Carpenter during night of protests in Madison
Patrick Marley
MADISON - Police arrested two women Monday accused of beating a state senator as he tried to take video of a crowd that had torn down statues during a protest over racial injustice.
People in the crowd attacked state Democratic Sen. Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee after he recorded them in June. They kicked and punched Carpenter in the head and he later required surgery.
Police released photos of two suspects, who turned themselves in Monday after they were identified by members of the public, according to the Madison police.
Police arrested Samantha R. Hamer, 26, and Kerida E. O'Reilly, 33, on suspicion of being parties to the crimes of substantial battery and robbery with use of force. They were both in custody Monday night, according to online records from the Dane County jail.
The attacks occurred on a chaotic night in Madison in which a Molotov cocktail was hurled into a government office and two statues on the Capitol grounds were torn down. One was of Col. Hans Christian Heg, an abolitionist who died in the Civil War fighting to end slavery. The other is named after the state's motto, "Forward."
At one point in the night, Carpenter came upon the crowd and began filming. People in the crowd rushed him and knocked his phone out of his hand.
He fell to the ground after he was punched and about 10 people hit and kicked him, one witness told police. Stunned, Carpenter told them he was an ally and had long fought for the kinds of policies they were seeking.
Paramedics treated him but he declined to go to the hospital that night. A week later, he said he had surgery in St. Francis for injuries he suffered during the attack.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.