Global Courant 2023-04-21 00:35:53
A white lawyer has been convicted of spitting on a black high school student during a 2020 anti-racism march in suburban Milwaukee.
A jury reached its verdict Wednesday in the trial of Stephanie Rapkin, 67, of Shorewood, Wisconsin, finding her guilty of disorderly conduct.
Rapkin will be sentenced on the misdemeanor charge later this week and is separately charged with felony charges against a police officer who arrested her at her home the day after the spitting incident.
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In June 2020, Rapkin showed up at the Shorewood protest and parked her car in the street, blocking the anti-racism march that was one of thousands held across the US following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
When protesters approached her to urge her to move her car, a video shows Rapkin spitting on Eric Lucas, then a 17-year-old junior at Shorewood High School. Lucas had helped organize and lead the march.
According to the indictment, Rapkin told an investigating officer that she was a cancer patient and felt threatened because she was surrounded by protesters who were not wearing protective masks against the coronavirus.
A Wisconsin woman has been convicted of disorderly conduct for spitting on a 17-year-old George Floyd protester in 2020.
Video shows Rapkin not wearing a mask.
In court on Tuesday, Rapkin said she spat at Lucas, but not at him, according to WDJT-TV.
Defense attorney Anthony Cotton told reporters after the trial that Rapkin is remorseful and her career is ruined.
“She definitely regrets what happened,” said Cotton.
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Rapkin faces up to 90 days in prison and a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted on May 23.
Rapkin had been charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime, but a judge rejected the elevation of that charge.
She still faces charges of assaulting a police officer, according to court documents, and is scheduled for trial in August.
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Shorewood police went to Rapkin’s home the day after the protest following her encounter with the protesters. She resisted arrest and kneaded an officer in the groin, the indictment said.
