A network of openly communist, socialist, and left-wing activist organizations mobilized supporters from across the country to fuel weeks of protests, street fires, and clashes with police in Madison, Wisconsin, following the fatal shooting of a homeless man by officers, and at least one key group behind the unrest collects millions in taxpayer money.
Madison police officers fatally shot Corey Ruiz on July 22 after responding to reports of theft. Officers said Ruiz fled on a bicycle, was caught, pulled a knife, and injured one officer during a struggle before another officer shot him. Within hours, a coalition of activist groups, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation's Madison chapter, Freedom Inc., and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, began coordinating protests, social media campaigns, and on-the-ground organizing that would consume the city for nearly two weeks.
A protest encampment grew at the intersection where Ruiz was shot, eventually sprawling to include dozens of tents, four portable toilets, food distribution areas, and memorial displays. A raised-fist sculpture brought from George Floyd Square in Minneapolis appeared at the site by July 25. Protesters blocked access to bars in downtown Madison. And when city crews finally dismantled the encampment on a Tuesday morning in early August, the unrest only intensified, with at least 22 arrests, five street fires, blocked intersections, and projectiles thrown at city workers during overnight clashes, Fox News Digital reported.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation, which describes itself as communist, used Instagram to repeatedly label the officer involved a "killer cop," identify the officer by name, and urge followers to "take the streets." After city crews cleared the memorial site, the group posted video of officers removing flowers, candles, and memorial items, writing in the caption:
"Killer cop... is still walking free. Still on the streets. Still getting paid."
The post closed with a rallying cry: "You can destroy a memorial, but you cannot destroy a movement." The group also pressured elected officials through coordinated phone and email campaigns demanding the officer's arrest.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization, which S1 describes as a Marxist-Leninist political organization, collaborated with Freedom Inc. and Madison Students for a Democratic Society on protest materials. The group's national social media accounts shared footage and updates from the Madison demonstrations. Fight Back! News, whose website states some writers and staff are members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, jointly published an Instagram post with Freedom Inc. describing individuals and organizations traveling to Madison from "around the country" to "help organize on the ground." That post highlighted a four-day educational series and a postcard-writing campaign demanding the officer's arrest, defunding the police, strengthening civilian oversight, and expanding community control of policing.
On the day of the shooting itself, Freedom Inc. joined the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in a joint Instagram post calling for "Justice for Corey Ruiz" and "Community Control of the Police Now!"
Freedom Inc., the Madison-based nonprofit at the center of the protest organizing, is not a shoestring operation. IRS filings show the group reported roughly $4.9 million in revenue in 2024, including about $1.24 million in government grants. In 2023, it pulled in approximately $4.2 million, with about $1.13 million coming from government grants. The Washington Examiner reported the group has received over $5 million in state, federal, and local taxpayer funding for programs including crime victim assistance and immigrant and refugee work.
Yet Freedom Inc.'s public positions leave little ambiguity about its view of the institutions those tax dollars support. A pinned Instagram post from February carried the headline "Abolish Police" and declared that "Police and ICE are tearing families apart, racially profiling our people, criminalizing poverty, and inflicting violence on Black, Brown, immigrant, and working-class communities." The group argued communities deserve "safety without surveillance" and "care without criminalization."
A Freedom Inc. spokeswoman went further during the Madison protests, calling law enforcement "an occupying army" and claiming police "are harassing, surveilling, and arresting black people and locking them up behind these walls."
That rhetoric translated directly into action. Freedom Inc. organized what it called a "mass mobilization" on the Monday night before the encampment was cleared. Protesters climbed Madison City Hall and hung a banner reading "Arrest the Killer Cop." Others threw balloons filled with red liquid at the building. After the encampment's removal, Freedom Inc. accused Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway of "sending armed militia to raid the memorial site."
Freedom Inc. also claimed on Instagram that it had "bailed out 50 people" from the Dane County Public Safety Building and had "shut down Doty Street directly in front of the jail while working to get people released." Fox News Digital stated it was unable to independently verify the bail claim. The Washington Examiner put the confirmed number at 32 protesters bailed out within one day of police clearing the encampment.
Mayor Rhodes-Conway defended the city's response, saying officials first offered shelter and hotel accommodations before clearing the encampment and citing public safety concerns and the encampment's detrimental impact on nearby businesses and the surrounding neighborhood. But the encampment stood for nearly two weeks, growing larger and more entrenched the entire time.
Tom Beck, a Madison retiree who has lived in the city for about 12 years, told Fox News Digital the delay was a mistake.
"They should have given them maybe 48 hours and then go in there and just push it out of the way. Instead, they let it grow."
"It's just become an embarrassment," Beck added.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, who is running for governor, appeared at the memorial site shortly after Ruiz's death. Prior Fox News Digital reporting noted she had previously called for "abolishing the police," though the current report explicitly states Hong does not appear to be affiliated with any of the protest groups.
The Madison protests did not emerge in a vacuum. A prior Fox News Digital investigation documented roughly $285 million flowing from Neville Roy Singham, a Marxist tech entrepreneur who lives in Shanghai, into a global network of nonprofits, activist organizations, and media operations. A House panel subsequently subpoenaed three left-wing groups in a probe of $39 million tied to Singham, according to that earlier Fox News Digital report.
Fox News Digital reached out to Freedom Inc. and the Party for Socialism and Liberation but did not report receiving a response.
All four officers involved in the encounter with Ruiz remain on administrative leave while the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigates the shooting. Madison police declined to publicly identify any of the officers. During the overnight unrest following the encampment's removal, officers recovered a handgun from a juvenile protester arrested on unrelated charges.
Several key facts remain unresolved. No charges against the arrested protesters have been publicly detailed. The Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation into the shooting has no announced timeline. And the precise financial connections, if any, between the Madison chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Singham's broader network remain unclear beyond what prior reporting has established.
What is clear is the organizational infrastructure. Within hours of Ruiz's death, groups with openly communist and socialist platforms activated a coordinated campaign, complete with social media messaging, out-of-state organizers, bail funds, and sustained pressure on local officials. Freedom Inc. hosted a tent at the encampment, distributed "abolish police" signs, and worked directly with Ruiz's family on policy demands.
Madison residents and business owners spent two weeks living with the consequences of a city government that hesitated while a well-funded activist network dug in. The people who pay the taxes, including the taxes that fund Freedom Inc., deserved better.
