Meanwhile, in Madison

If you thought that things were settling down, think again:

At Tuesday evening's Madison City Council meeting, Young, Gifted and Black Coalition leader Brandi Grayson spoke directly to Police Chief Mike Koval about the death of Tony Robinson: “We know the facts, and when they come out, this city will erupt. This city will f-ing erupt. And the blood and whatever takes place after that will be on your hands and the mayor’s hands.”

Does that sound like a threat to you? Koval thinks so:

Koval sat through the public comment period that City Council had added to its Tuesday agenda, saying later he has no problem with people questioning his department, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

But on Wednesday morning, he sent an email to all alders with a different tone.

“Last night, I sat patiently listening to people accusing MPD of everything from being sanctioned murderers to racists. Given the nature of the proceedings, I was left with no recourse to respond to any of these diatribes, falsehoods and shock value missives,” Koval wrote.

He wrote that people can attack him all they want, but he has a duty to speak up when the people who work for him “have to contend with unchecked, unilateral attacks on them and the legacy of the MPD.”

“I failed them by not being able to go to bat for them under the constraints of the hearing protocols last night,” Koval wrote. “In short, your collective silence is DEAFENING and that is why I chose to write to you today. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed or that my employees haven’t noticed—we have!”

Back to Grayson:

“What will happen after this non-indictment will mimic Ferguson, and that, my dear, will be on your hands,” Grayson said, again speaking directly to Koval. “And you can no longer scream that we are not Ferguson, 'cause we are Ferguson. We are the worst city in the nation for black people and every one of you should be ashamed of yourself.”

That sure sounds like a threat, and a patronizing one at that.

We've been writing about police conduct, and misconduct, a fair amount in recent days. We want our police to do better and be less intrusive in our daily lives. At the same time, we want them to protect us from people who would do us harm.

Are we being fair, or even consistent? It's a good question. There is every reason to believe that Ms. Grayson is planning to incite a riot on the streets of Madison. I have no idea if Madison is he worst city in the nation for black people, as she claims, but I would be curious how she came to that conclusion.

More to come.