Man whose arrest sparked Madison protest pleads guilty

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man whose arrest last summer ignited a violent protest in downtown Madison has pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors and has been sentenced to time already spent behind bars.

Twenty-nine-year-old Devonere Johnson entered the pleas Monday to disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and criminal damage to property in a plea deal with the Dane County district attorney, the State Journal reported.

The disorderly conduct and resisting arrest convictions relate to incidents in which Johnson was charged with threatening business owners and creating disturbances and resisting officers who were trying to arrest him June 23.

Johnson was charged with criminal damage for spray-painting graffiti on the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial on the state Capitol grounds. He was ordered to pay $208 in restitution for that incident.

Johnson’s arrest sparked a protest during which two statues on the Capitol grounds were toppled, an attempt to burn the City-County Building was made and a state senator was assaulted.