Genevieve Redsten, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A 64-year-old Shorewood woman was taken into police custody at 10:12 p.m. Saturday after spitting on a juvenile male during an altercation that happened earlier Saturday in the 4000 block of North Oakland Avenue, Shorewood police said.
Multiple videos of the incident circulating on Facebook show a car parked in the middle of North Oakland Avenue as a protest march makes its way south on the street. A video then shows the woman walking away from the car.
The person filming the video follows her and asks her to move her car.
The two stop on the sidewalk outside the Metro Market on North Oakland Avenue.
"She won't move her car, so we can't go," the person filming says, repeating, "She won't move her car" several times.
The woman continues to walk away, then turns around and says, "She won't keep me safe. You won't keep me safe. Move away from me. Move away from me."
Several people continue to urge her to move her car. Another group of protesters approaches the woman, shouting at her while she shouts back.
The woman can then be seen spitting on a young male protester. The woman is white, the protester she spits on is black. Quickly, bystanders get between the woman and the young man; they surround the woman and usher her away.
The Shorewood Police Department confirmed Sunday that Stephanie Rapkin of Shorewood was taken into custody Saturday night, and said it will refer criminal charges to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.
The video has circulated widely on social media, and state Rep. David Bowen — who also posted on social media that he was at the Shorewood march — and others have called for Rapkin, who works in Mequon as an attorney, to lose her license.
Larry J. Martin, executive director of the State Bar of Wisconsin, wrote on Sunday that he watched the video and is "both disgusted and disturbed. ... There is no justifiable reason for one person to ever spit on another individual."
The State Bar does not handle discipline for attorneys, he said, and referred inquiries to the State of Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation, which investigates complaints. The Wisconsin Supreme Court imposes sanctions on licensed attorneys, he noted.
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