Attorney attacks officer day after arrest for spitting on protester, Wisconsin cops say

A video shows a Wisconsin attorney who parked her car Saturday to block a march against police brutality spit in the face of a black protester, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

But police say Stephanie Rapkin, 64, of Shorewood, who is white, was just getting started, WISN reported.

In a second altercation Sunday morning, Rapkin shoved a protester who had been writing chalk messages on the public sidewalk outside her home, then fought police and kneed an officer in the groin during her arrest, WTMJ reported. Part of that incident also was caught on video.

Rapkin was held overnight Sunday on $950 bail on suspicion of battery and disorderly conduct, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

In a statement on Facebook, the board of the State Bar of Wisconsin says it is “disturbed and disgusted” by Rapkin’s actions, but has no authority to discipline attorneys.

“The State of Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation investigates complaints and ultimately the Wisconsin Supreme Court imposes sanctions on licensed attorneys,” says the statement.

The wild series of events began Saturday evening when a video posted to Facebook shows Rapkin standing on the sidewalk near a car parked in the street to block a march in Shorewood.

As various protesters confront her and ask her to move her car so the march can proceed, Rapkin spits in the face of a black protester who appears to be a teenager.

The protester steps back in shock as others move in to separate the two. Rapkin then grabs the arm of a white protester who tries to intervene as other protesters surround her and move her away from the crowd.

Police arrested Rapkin at her home a short time later at 10 p.m., a Shorewood Police Department post on Facebook says.

She was not booked into jail Saturday night because of jail policies intended to prevent the spread of coronavirus, police wrote on Facebook.

On Sunday morning, Rapkin confronted Joe Friedman, a college student, who had been writing chalk messages on the public sidewalk outside her home including, “Be better than this” and “I spit on a child. How dare you!” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

A video of that incident, also posted to Facebook, shows Rapkin shove Friedman, saying that she’s demonstrating what the black protester did to her.

“You just put your hands on me,” Friedman says in the video. “That is assault right there. Wow, I just got that on video, ma’am.”

A second press release from the police department says that when officers arrived to arrest Rapkin, she became combative and kneed an officer in the groin. She was taken to jail.

“Let us be very clear — hate has no home in Shorewood,” reads a statement posted by the Village of Shorewood on Facebook, which said the board denounces Rapkin’s actions.

National protests erupted after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he begged for air during his May 25 arrest on suspicion of fraud.

Floyd, a black man, later died. Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, and three other officers have been fired and charged in his death..

Some of the protests, which have spread from Minneapolis across the nation, have been blamed for clashes with police, fires and other unrest.

The violence and thefts involve much smaller groups at mostly peaceful gatherings, authorities say. The vast majority of the protesters across the nation have been “peaceful demonstrators calling for change,” law enforcement officials told ABC News.

This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Attorney attacks officer day after arrest for spitting on protester, Wisconsin cops say."