A 64-year-old lawyer from suburban Milwaukee was arrested twice over the weekend after she was initially caught on camera on Saturday spitting in the face of a 17-year-old black boy during a Black Lives Matter protest.
Videos circulating on social media show Stephanie Rapkin parking her car in the middle of the street and blocking a protest by hundreds of locals in Shorewood, Wisconsin, on Saturday afternoon.
According to authorities, a Black Lives Matter march was heading south on North Oakland Avenue when Rapkin left her car in the middle of the intersection of East Jarvis Street and North Oakland Avenue so as to obstruct the procession.
Rapkin is then seen walking on the sidewalk and confronting a large group of protesters, most of whom appeared to be in their teens and 20s.
Stephanie Rapkin, a 64-year-old probate lawyer from suburban Milwaukee, is seen left spitting on Eric Patrick Lucas III (white t-shirt), in Shorewood, Milwaukee, during a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday
Moments earlier, Lucas and a crowd of at least a dozen protesters chanted in her direction while others urged her to move her car after she parked it in the middle of the intersection
Several protesters are seen restraining Lucas after Rapkin spit on him
Several vehicles are seen backed up on the road as they are apparently unable to continue driving because Rapkin’s car is blocking them.
Protesters can be heard on the street demanding that she move her car.
Meanwhile, Rapkin ignores these calls and is seen walking on the sidewalk.
One protester takes out her cell phone and follows Rapkin.
‘She won’t move her car!’ the protester says as she walks behind Rapkin.
Rapkin was arrested on Saturday, but she wasn’t booked into jail due to coronavirus restrictions on the number of inmates allowed in cells
The protester then repeats: ‘She won’t move her car, so we can’t go.’
At one point, Rapkin turns toward the protester and yells back: ‘She won’t keep me safe. You won’t keep me safe. Move away from me. Move away from me.’
The video then shows protesters confront Rapkin.
‘Get away from me,’ the lawyer is seen yelling at one woman who pleaded with her to return to her vehicle and allow the procession march to continue.
Moments later, a large group of protesters, most of whom are young African Americans chanting ‘I’m black, I’m proud,’ moves toward her.
One of the young protesters, Eric Patrick Lucas III, is seen yelling in her direction, though it is unclear what he said.
Rapkin then spits on the boy. Other protesters intervene and restrain him while crowding around her, urging her to return to her vehicle.
Eric Patrick Lucas III, the 17-year-old boy who was spit on by Rapkin, said he was ‘mentally and physically shaken’ by the incident
Video from later that evening shows police take Rapkin into custody at 10:12pm local time.
Milwaukee County officials said that Rapkin was not booked into the county jail on Saturday night due to coronavirus limitations.
‘I continue to be mentally and physically shaken,’ Lucas, a junior at Shorewood High School, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday.
‘To be assaulted by an adult in my own community during a pandemic was traumatic.’
Lucas added: ‘Again and again, I am viewed not as a child but as a color.’
On Sunday, Rapkin was arrested once more after she was accused of shoving a 21-year-old college student in front of her home.
The incident started after Rapkin parked her car in the middle of the intersection of East Jarvis Street and North Oakland Avenue in Shorewood. She blocked many who were taking part in a procession march for Black Lives Matter
A large crowd of dozens of protesters kept urging her to go back to her car and remove it from the intersection in order to allow the protest to continue
Rapkin angrily confronted the protesters, accusing them of ‘not keeping her safe’
Video posted to social media by Shorewood resident Debra Brehmer shows Rapkin confronting Brehmer’s son, Joe Friedman, a senior at Ithaca College in New York.
Friedman said that he went to Rapkin’s block after hearing about her initial arrest for spitting on the teen.
He then wrote in chalk on the sidewalk outside of her home: ‘Be better than this’.
Friedman also wrote: ‘I spit on a child. How dare you!’
According to Friedman, an hour after he arrived, Rapkin came out of her home to confront him and about 10 other people who had joined him.
In the video, Friedman, who is holding a camera, and Rapkin are seen arguing about the spitting incident.
She told Friedman that she was defending herself and that she spit in response to being attacked by Lucas, though this did not occur as evidenced by the footage.
Rapkin then demonstrated the alleged attack by approaching Friedman.
From the video, it appears she shoved him in the chest.
‘You just put your hands on me,’ Friedman said in the video. ‘That is assault right there.
Rapkin was arrested on Sunday after she allegedly shoved a protester who wrote in chalk on her sidewalk, condemning her for the spitting incident
Rapkin is seen in video confronting Joe Friedman, a college senior who attends Ithaca
Friedman, who is holding the camera, confronts Rapkin about the spitting incident
She then appears to get close to Friedman and shoves him, prompting another protester nearby who witnessed the incident to call the police
Shorewood police are seen above taking Rapkin into custody near her home on Sunday
Police allege that while officers were taking her into custody, she kneed one of them in the groin
‘Wow, I just got that on video ma’am.’
A woman at the scene who witnessed the incident then called the police.
‘The victim in today’s incident reported he was peacefully protesting on the sidewalk in front of suspect’s home, when the suspect came out and engaged in a verbal altercation with the protesters,’ Shorewood police said in a statement.
‘The victim reported the suspect then slapped both of her hands on the victim’s chest and physically pushed him.’
Rapkin spent Sunday night in Milwaukee County Jail. Bail was set at $950
According to police, Rapkin resisted arrest and kneed a police officer in the groin when they tried to take her into custody for battery and disorderly conduct, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Police want to charge Rapkin with battery, disorderly conduct, battery to a law enforcement officer, and resisting or obstructing an officer.
Michael Maistelman, an election law attorney, has filed a complaint with the Office of Lawyer Regulation asking it to investigate Rapkin.
The office could make a recommendation to the state Supreme Court to disbar her.
Rapkin was booked into the Milwaukee County Jail on Sunday and kept overnight.
Bail was set at $950.
Source: dailymail US
