The ‘Autonomous Zones’ Are Back

By Noah Rothman

Tuesday, August 04, 2026

 

Stop me if this sounds familiar.

 

Late last month, a police officer in Madison, Wis., was attacked by a knife-wielding man who was resisting arrest. The officer responded with deadly force, shooting and killing 22-year-old Corey Ruiz, “who is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court records,” Wisconsin’s PBS outlet reported.

 

The arrest-related shooting was, however, captured on amateur video that “appeared to show the officer firing shots after Ruiz was already being held on the ground,” according to one report. Local officials insist that the video presents a distorted view of the sequence of events. Few seemed to care. The shooting produced “swift protests,” as crowds “marched to the state Capitol to demand accountability.”

 

Local PBS noted that the shooting happened in a popular Madison neighborhood where, in 2015, a “white police officer” had shot and killed an unarmed 19-year-old, “who was biracial.” Following last month’s police shooting, Madison Police Chief John Patterson, “who is white,” did his best to temper the public’s passions. Yet as these racially agitating press accounts attest, allowing cooler heads to prevail wasn’t in everyone’s interest.

 

Within days of that shooting, “the site of a makeshift memorial to Ruiz turned into an encampment,” Wisconsin Public Radio revealed. The demonstrators sought to take control of their encampment, deeming it the “Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone” — an evocation of Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, a brief breakaway republic typified by shootings, bombings, sexual violence, and warlordism.

 

The echoes of the CHAZ are deafening. “Protesters harangued police and public officials at press conferences about the incident while holding up signs saying, ‘Corrupt cops deserve to die too,’” the Washington Times reported. Somehow, “at least four port-a-potties” appeared at the encampment site, though city officials insist they have no idea how they got there. The toilets were later “sprayed with graffiti.” Likewise, the occupiers have observed organizational discipline. For example, one media minder was observed enforcing message discipline on her compatriots and harassing media. “We have asked politely for you to leave,” she told a reporter. “If not, we will have to figure out a way to get you going.”

 

Unlike 2020, however, Madison officials have displayed less tolerance for the illegal demonstration. Of course, the “artwork” around the memorial will be preserved, perhaps with “a barrier setup” to allow safe pedestrian and vehicular traffic to flow through the area, said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. But the personal vehicles blocking access to this part of her city will have to go, she belatedly announced this week. Her unheeded warnings were a prelude to an incursion.

 

Early on Tuesday morning, Madison police and city workers invaded the encampment with bulldozers as they cleared out the autonomous zone. “Police arrived soon afterward, some in riot gear,” the Washington Post reported. “Protesters started two fires, which were quickly put out, as the encampment was cleared. Police said at least 10 people were arrested.”

 

The occupiers resisted their rousting, but they were subdued with force:

 

 

So far, America has been spared another “summer of love.” But there’s plenty of summer left and no shortage of activists who pine for the bad old days.