2 Women Arrested In Attack On Wisconsin State Senator: Police

MADISON, WI — Police in Madison say two women turned themselves in for their role in the June 23 attack on State Sen. Tim Carpenter.

According to Madison police, Samantha Hamer, 26, and Kerida O’Reilly, 33 were taken to the Dane County Jail and are awaiting potential charges. According to a Wisconsin State Journal report, the women are being held on suspicion of substantial battery and robbery with use of force.

Carpenter said he was standing along the 200 block of W. Main Street near the Wisconsin State Capitol building and was recording video when two women ran up to him from a line of protesters. In the video Carpenter recorded, the women put their hands up to the camera before the video ended. Authorities said Carpenter had his phone and eyeglasses taken away from him temporarily by his assailants.

"Capitol locked - stuck in office. Stop violence now, please!" Carpenter wrote on the night of June 23 "This has got to stop before someone gets killed," Carpenter wrote in a message to the Washington Post. "Sad thing I'm on their side for peaceful demonstrations — am a Gay Progressive Dem Senator served 36 years in the legislature."

Carpenter said he was eventually attacked by "eight to ten people" as unrest gripped the State Capitol. The Wisconsin State Capitol was besieged by protesters, and two statues were torn down in the fracas.

Lance Veeser, a sports reporter from WKOW said a television crew was working at the state capitol covering the unrest when they came across Carpenter, who appeared to be passed out on the street. Veeser said Carpenter collapsed as he was walking toward the Capitol. Fellow journalists called paramedics, summoning an ambulance to treat his injuries.

Authorities say the incident began that evening after police arrested Devenore Johnson, a protester who approached a restaurant on Capitol Square while carrying a baseball bat on his shoulder. Madison police say Johnson was talking through a megaphone while walking around the restaurant's outdoor patio. Police released video showing several officers taking Johnson to the sidewalk and carrying him to a police squad car during the course of his arrest.

According to police, protesters chanted for Johnson's release, breaking glass at the Tommy Thompson Center, and smashing windows and lights at the Capitol.

Unrest Overwhelmed Capitol Area

A group of 200-300 people along with a number of vehicles moved through the downtown Madison area that evening into the next morning, Madison police said.

The group initially marched, blocked intersections, and obstructed driveways. As the group's behavior escalated, they entered a private condominium building and surrounded a towing vehicle, requiring the driver to abandon the vehicle, police said.

The group later moved to the Capitol Square and removed the statues of Lady Forward and Hans Christian Heg and broke windows in a number of buildings.

Windows at the City County Building were broken, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the building. The group went on to also attempt to force entry to the State Capitol building, police said. Police deployed tear gas from within the building to repel people who were trying to break in, police said.

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this report.