Now, city officials are responding to criticism over how they handled the encampment at Williamson and Baldwin Street, where tensions escalated as crews moved in to clear the area. 

The response comes after a long city council meeting where residents, protesters and business owners criticized the city from several sides of the debate. 

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said she wanted to give people time to grieve the death of Corey Ruiz and exercise their First Amendment right, but she said not long after the protest began, an illegal encampment was constructed, leaving her no choice but to take action. 

The mayor, along with other city officials, answered questions from the press for nearly an hour Wednesday.

Mayor Rhodes-Conway made her message clear to protesters. 

"Many in this community are angry and grief-stricken over Corey Ruiz's life being cut short by the police," Mayor Rhodes-Conway said. "Those feelings are completely legitimate and I feel them too. But as mayor of Madison, I will not condone or accept that the solution is to further divide our community by causing harm to your neighbors and local businesses, harassing bystanders, setting fire to city streets. None of that can change state law and none of that can bring Corey back."

The mayor says on Monday, city officials attempted to remove the encampment without police, but protesters became violent, throwing rocks at city employees and starting fires. She said her decision ultimately came down to the number of unhoused people moving into the area.  

CBS 58

"It was clear that the situation was increasingly dangerous for everybody and having a huge toll on the neighbors who are in the immediate vicinity," Mayor Rhodes-Conway said. "I felt like that was not something that could continue."

Through the course of the last week, the city has placed 70 people in local hotels. Forty of those placements occurred Monday and Tuesday evening.

The hotel stays will last up to a week, as they city works with local partners to try to find permanent housing solutions.

During the clash between protesters and police, 22 people were arrested, 10 were given stations, and one juvenile with a gun was taken into police custody. The police chief says they never used any crowd control tactics or deployed tear gas. He says his office is working on a solution to build trust in the community. 

"We are not perfect, you know, we have work that we need to do. I have identified some areas that I think we are going to make immediate progress on hopefully, and immediate steps to do some restructuring to help us get there. And to the mayor's point, it is nearly impossible to do it when you are in the middle of a crisis."

The mayor says they're working with the family of Corey Ruiz to find a permanent memorial location where protesters can honor him, but she said it will not be in the road or in a location blocking traffic.