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Wisconsin
Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for Wisconsin.
434Documented
2In custody
130Released
1Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Wisconsin
Where Wisconsin’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1940s 250
1930s 47
1910s 33
1960s 23
1970s 22
2020s 19
Recent dashboard entries from Wisconsin
The newest published events and reporting located in Wisconsin, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Arrest
A man is arrested dousing an Appleton courthouse Pride flag with gasoline
Protest
About 100 rally outside Ridglan Farms, calling for release of the last ~650 beagles and the facility's closure
Protest
A May Day march from Voces de la Frontera to the Federal Building in Milwaukee
Arrest
Palestinian-American community leader Salah Sarsour, a longtime green-card holder, detained by ICE in Milwaukee; rights groups call it retaliation for his pro-Palestinian advocacy
Protest
Hundreds line State Road and Losey Boulevard for a 'No Kings' rally
Arrest
Wayne Hsiung and three activists charged with four felonies each over an "open rescue" of 22 beagles from Ridglan Farms
Prosecution
Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan is found guilty of obstructing ICE agents
Prosecution
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was convicted of felony obstruction for helping an undocumented man avoid ICE agents at her courthouse
Documented cases
434 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
Marquon Clark
In Custody
Marquon Clark is a Black social justice and anti-capitalist activist who firebombed the Madison City-County Bu...
Hridindu Roychowdhury
In Custody
Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 30, of Madison WI, was arrested March 28, 2023 for the May 8, 2022 arson attack...
River Akemann
River Akemann is a video journalist and Unicorn Riot contributor. Police arrested him in Ashland County, Wisco...
Hekima Ana
Released
RNA citizen from Milwaukee, age 29 at the time of the August 18, 1971 raid. Convicted of firing the shot that...
Dwight Armstrong
Released
Dwight Allan Armstrong was 19 years old at the time he and his older brother Karleton Armstrong, with David Fi...
Karleton Armstrong
Released
Karleton Lewis Karl Armstrong was a 23-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student in 1970 and the princi...
John Bachman
Released
John Bachman was arrested for trespass at Project ELF, the U.S. Navy's extremely-low-frequency submarine comma...
Matthew Banta
Released
Matthew Banta, known as "Commander Red" in anti-fascist circles, is a Neenah, Wisconsin organizer who was arre...
Cory Bartholomew
Released
Anti-nuclear activist arrested for nonviolent direct action against the Navy's Project ELF submarine transmitt...
Eddie Benton-Banai
Released
Edward "Eddie" Benton-Banai was an Ojibwe-Anishinaabe spiritual leader, educator, and co-founder of the Americ...
Victor Berger
Released
Victor Berger was born in Nieder-Rehbach, Austria-Hungary; emigrated 1878. Edited the Milwaukee Leader (1911–2...
Arthur Boose
Released
Arthur Boose was an IWW organizer from Abbotsford, Wisconsin. Arthur Boose was convicted at the mass IWW trial...
Sherman Booth
Released
Sherman Booth was a Wisconsin Republican newspaper editor (Wisconsin Free Democrat) who in 1854 led a Milwauke...
Henry Brinkman
Released
Henry Brinkman was listed in the National Civil Liberties Bureau's March 1919 compilation "War-Time Prosecutio...
Ellen R. Budow
Released
Ellen R. Budow was born in 1952 and became active against the Vietnam War while attending Evanston Township Hi...
Leo Frederick Burt
Released
Leo Frederick Burt was a University of Wisconsin student and rowing-crew member whom federal authorities accus...
Isabelle Chulkins
Isabelle Chulkins was a Milwaukee worker jailed after taking part in the March 6, 1930 unemployment demonstrat...
Booker Collins
Released
Booker T. Collins Jr. was a member of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin chapter of the Black Panther Party, founded in...
Don Cotton
Released
Don Cotton was a 24-year-old co-chairman of Students for a Democratic Society at Saint Louis University and on...
Michael Cullen
Released
Michael Cullen was a 26-year-old Irish-born director of Casa Maria House of Hospitality, the Milwaukee Catholi...
Robert Cunnane
Released
Father Robert Cunnane was a 36-year-old Stigmatine Catholic priest from Massachusetts and one of the Milwaukee...
Sam Day
Released
Sam Day was an anti-nuclear journalist, former editor of The Progressive magazine, and longtime organizer with...
Aaron Ellringer
Released
Aaron Ellringer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his limited role in the July 20, 2000 damage to U.S. Fores...
Joyce Ellwanger
Released
Joyce Ellwanger was a retired Milwaukee peace activist who crossed onto Fort Benning during the November 2002...
Institutions in Wisconsin
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Wisconsin that appear in the census’s case files.
FCI OxfordOxford, Wisconsin
11 cases
Milwaukee House of CorrectionMilwaukee, Wisconsin
11 cases
Dane County JailMadison, Wisconsin
8 cases
Ashland County JailAshland, Wisconsin
5 cases
Dane County Circuit Court
2 cases
Wisconsin state prisonMilwaukee, Wisconsin
2 cases
Wisconsin State PrisonWaupun, Wisconsin
2 cases
U.S. Federal Custom House Jail, MilwaukeeMilwaukee, Wisconsin
1 case