Back in 2020, white Wisconsin lawyer Stephanie Rapkin was caught on camera spitting on a Black Lives Matter protester. After it happened, police arrested Rapkin inside her Shorewood home. She wound up serving 60 days in jail for the incident, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Rapkin subsequently sued police officers — and now that lawsuit has finally been settled.
During the trial for the initial spitting incident, Rapkin said she was scared during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She decided to walk towards a group of marchers in Shorewood in June of 2020 while being filmed and followed.
The person seemingly leading the group of demonstrators was then-17-year-old Eric Lucas, who Rapkin spit on. She didn’t deny spitting while she on the stand during her trial, but she said it was at the ground and not Lucas. The video evidence proved otherwise.
The state claimed that Rapkin changed her story to try and get out of a conviction.
A judge sentenced Rapkin to a stayed 60-day term in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center (CRC), formerly the House of Correction, and a year of probation as well as 100 hours of community service.
However in a surprising turn of events, Rapkin wound up suing law enforcement police officers. She accused them of kicking in her door without a search warrant, even though they insisted they were performing a welfare check.
Per FOX6 News Milwaukee, Shorewood officials shared that the village’s insurance company has decided to settle the case for $760,000. Shorewood Village Manager Rebecca Ewald told the outlet it is not an admission of guilt, but a decision that was made to avoid the cost and risk of a trial.
Court records revealed that Rapkin was also charged with felony battery to a law enforcement officer stemming from an arrest connected to that case. However, that charge was later dismissed.