ABC’s Wisconsin Shooting Coverage Buries Knifing of Police Officer

Jorge Bonilla
July 23rd, 2026 11:38 PM

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The Elitist Media have once again descended upon a community where an officer-involved shooting has occurred, seeking to witness and amplify local outrage. The broadcast network evening news led with the officer-involved shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. One of the networks severely downplayed the underlying incident at the heart of the protests.

Although there is broad consensus that a Madison police officer was injured by the knife wielded by the suspect, ABC chooses to bury this fact towards the end of their report:

 

 

PIERRE THOMAS: Police say they were responding to reports of a man checking the doors of parked cars Wednesday afternoon. Officers spotting him but police say he took off on a bike. Police catching up with him roughly a half hour later. ABC News compiled available video on the incident attempting to break down what happened. Here, the suspect flying off the bike as officers attempt to arrest him. Police say he pulls out a fixed blade knife. 

Officers try to tase him, but police say they're unsuccessful. The struggle continues, with the man ending up on the ground on his side. Then three shots fired. That suspect later pronounced dead at the hospital. Tonight, that man identified as Corey Ruiz, who community leaders say was black. Authorities claim the officer who fired the shot was injured by the knife.

The officer injury with the knife was mentioned 1 minute and 43 seconds into a 2 minute and 11 second report- that is to say, towards the end. In other words, buried. And even then, Pierre Thomas went through significant effort to disconnect the suspect from the knife. 

This disconnect makes no sense except as part of an effort to cast the deceased suspect in the best possible light and stoke Riot Season.

CBS didn’t indulge this foolishness. Anchor Tony Dokoupil linked suspect and knife as he introduced the story:

 

 

TONY DOKOUPIL: And good evening. We begin with that breaking news out of Madison, Wisconsin, just a day after police shot and killed a man in a busy intersection there. Police say the man had fled from officers, then pulled a fixed blade knife, injuring one officer who tried to use a taser before three shots were fired.

Correspondent Jonah Kaplan would then reference the knifing incident multiple times in his own report. There is no effort to bury this inconvenient and counternarrative fact. 

The same goes for NBC, which also referenced the knifing early on in the report:

 

 

TOM LLAMAS: We have new details tonight in the fatal shooting of a man in Madison, Wisconsin. Authorities say he pulled out a knife as police struggled with him. The shooting, though, now sparking protests. Shaquille Brewster is there.

SHAQUILLE BREWSTER: New video capturing the deadly confrontation between Madison, Wisconsin police and Corey Ruiz. Captured on camera in Madison, Wisconsin. A police officer fatally shooting the 38-year-old who investigators say was armed with a knife.

JOHN PATTERSON: This is an open and active homicide investigation right now.

BREWSTER: The scene sparking outrage even at a press conference with city leaders late today. Multiple videos capturing the incident from different angles. The scuffle appearing to begin here when police say Ruiz falls or is taken off his bike by an officer. Authorities were responding to a report of an individual checking car doors Wednesday afternoon they say, when the man initially fled. Watch as police appear to struggle with him. They say Ruiz pulled out a knife and injured one officer.

In addition to mentioning the knifing of the officer on several occasions, NBC were the only ones to mention that the suspect had an extensive criminal record (40 convictions). NBC also took the high road by choosing to air these inconvenient facts.

That isn’t to say that CBS or NBC were police puff pieces. They aired oppositional viewpoints from within the community, and observed the lack of police bodycams. They went for a semblance of balance and let viewers decide on the merits of the story. It would’ve been nice had ABC chosen to do the same.

Click “expand” to view the full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective network newscasts on Thursday, July 23rd, 2026:

ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT

7/23/26

6:31 PM

LINSEY DAVIS: We begin tonight with growing outrage in Madison, Wisconsin over the deadly police shooting of a black man who authorities say was armed with a knife. The disturbing confrontation unfolding in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Late today, the jarring moment a protester grabs the mic from the police chief during a briefing. ABC's Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas leads us off.

PIERRE THOMAS: Tonight, an eruption of raw emotion as local leaders tried to provide an update on the fatal police shooting of a black man at a busy intersection in Madison, Wisconsin.

PROTESTER: Because we don't want to hear anything you've been saying.

THOMAS: That stunning moment as a man spewing anti-semitic and anti-capitalism views suddenly emerges from the audience and literally takes the microphone from the Madison police chief while he's participating in a press conference on the shooting.

The bizarre scene arising out of a city gripped in tension after this deadly police confrontation was caught on video from multiple angles on Wednesday. Police say they were responding to reports of a man checking the doors of parked cars Wednesday afternoon. Officers spotting him but police say he took off on a bike. Police catching up with him roughly a half hour later. ABC News compiled available video on the incident attempting to break down what happened. Here, the suspect flying off the bike as officers attempt to arrest him. Police say he pulls out a fixed blade knife. 

Officers try to tase him, but police say they're unsuccessful. The struggle continues, with the man ending up on the ground on his side. Then three shots fired. That suspect later pronounced dead at the hospital. Tonight, that man identified as Corey Ruiz, who community leaders say was black. Authorities claim the officer who fired the shot was injured by the knife. Police were not wearing body cameras, which are not widely used at the department. Overnight. Large scale protests in the city and frustrations running high.

SATYA RHODES-CONWAY: I understand the very strong emotions that people are feeling. I'm feeling them, too.

THOMAS: The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave and the police chief says state investigators, separate from his department, are conducting an independent investigation. Linsey.

DAVIS: And we know you’ll be following that for us. Pierre, thank you.

CBS EVENING NEWS

7/23/26

6:31 PM 

TONY DOKOUPIL: And good evening. We begin with that breaking news out of Madison, Wisconsin, just a day after police shot and killed a man in a busy intersection there. Police say the man had fled from officers, then pulled a fixed blade knife, injuring one officer who tried to use a taser before three shots were fired. Protests developed almost immediately, and then today, just moments ago, demonstrators walked into a police press conference and took the microphone. One woman holding a sign saying, quote, “corrupt cops deserve to die too”, and “kill Peterson”. The reference not clear, though a police chief Patterson right there in the room. Our Jonah Kaplan has more now on that extraordinary moment and everything that led up to it. Jonah, good evening.

JONAH KAPLAN: Tony, good evening. We are just a few blocks away from the state Capitol, and this right here, this is the spot where police shot and killed 38-year-old Corey Ruiz just about 24 hours ago. And that was a stunning moment. Never saw anything like that before. But it showed how the simmering tensions here, they are reaching a boiling point. 

As Madison's police chief detailed the independent investigation into Wednesday's shooting...

JOHN PATTERSON: I'm not going to stand here today and render a verdict or an opinion about what the investigation will find because I believe that will jeopardize what we all want, which is independence.

KAPLAN: He then stood still, as did other city leaders, as protesters first interrupted, then stole the microphone.

PROTESTER: Give me this microphone man, excuse me. That's right. This is a public show. This is a public show.

KAPLAN: This went on for more than 15 minutes. And when it resumed, the chief said this.

PATTERSON: We’ve called for a thorough and independent criminal investigation into yesterday's shooting.

KAPLAN: This new video obtained by CBS News shows four Madison police officers trying to revive a man they say had struggled with them during an arrest. The suspect died from gunshot wounds after police say he allegedly injured one officer with this knife. Video of the confrontation instantly went viral.

POLICE: He's got a gun.

POLICE: Taser! [Gunshots]

KAPLAN: Today in Madison we met Jazz Brown, who said she grew up with Corey Ruiz, the victim in Wednesday's shooting. There was a picture of a big knife, right, how do you square that?

JAZZ BROWN: A badge isn’t a license to kill.

KAPLAN: The four officers involved have been put on leave.

SATYA RHODES-CONWAY: This is an incredibly difficult moment for the Madison community. It does not matter who you are. Or what your past is. You should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement.

KAPLAN: There's an ongoing vigil right now, but it's interesting, Tony, that Madison Police Department, which is right here in the state capital, pretty progressive city, no body cameras on the police officers. So any investigation is going to depend entirely on witness statements and witness videos.

DOKOUPIL: Jonah Kaplan leading us off. Jonah, thanks.

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS

7/23/26

6:36 PM

TOM LLAMAS: We have new details tonight in the fatal shooting of a man in Madison, Wisconsin. Authorities say he pulled out a knife as police struggled with him. The shooting, though, now sparking protests. Shaquille Brewster is there.

SHAQUILLE BREWSTER: New video capturing the deadly confrontation between Madison, Wisconsin police and Corey Ruiz. Captured on camera in Madison, Wisconsin. A police officer fatally shooting the 38-year-old who investigators say was armed with a knife.

JOHN PATTERSON: This is an open and active homicide investigation right now.

BREWSTER: The scene sparking outrage even at a press conference with city leaders late today. Multiple videos capturing the incident from different angles. The scuffle appearing to begin here when police say Ruiz falls or is taken off his bike by an officer. Authorities were responding to a report of an individual checking car doors Wednesday afternoon they say, when the man initially fled. Watch as police appear to struggle with him. They say Ruiz pulled out a knife and injured one officer. Authorities say a taser was deployed but it was not successful. Then three shots are heard.

PATTERSON: The officer who sustained injuries from the knife was the same officer that fired the shots.

BREWSTER: Public records show Ruiz had at least 40 criminal convictions, including several for resisting or obstructing law enforcement.

SATYA RHODES-CONWAY: You should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement. 

BREWSTER: The shooting leading to a night of demonstrations. Protesters here interrupting a concert at the state Capitol. Jasmine Brown says she knew Ruiz personally. You’ve known him for 20 years. What was lost in that shooting?

JASMINE BROWN: I mean, a father. A son. A friend. A loved one. And he's gone.

LLAMAS: Shaq Brewster joins us now live. You mentioned in your report one the officers was injured. Do we know how they're doing tonight?

BREWSTER: Well, Tom, the police chief saying that the officer who was injured with that knife was hospitalized but released within hours. But investigators say there was a second officer who was hospitalized and released though the condition of that officer and the status and what led to the hospitalization was not clear. Tom.

LLAMAS: Shaq Brewster at those demonstrations there in Madison tonight. Shaq, thank you.

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