Shorewood woman charged with disorderly conduct, hate crime after spitting at protester

SHOREWOOD -- Stephanie Rapkin of Shorewood is now charged in connection with an incident from Saturday, June 6 in which she is accused of spitting on a juvenile protester's face during a peaceful demonstration.

Rapkin, 64, faces the following charges:

According to the criminal complaint, police responded to an incident on Oakland Avenue in Shorewood. They interviewed Eric Lucas. He indicated he and others were walking through Shorewood and he noticed "a group of people yelling at a woman, later identified as Defendant Stephanie Rapkin, telling her to move her car." As Lucas stood with friends several feet from the defendant, the complaint says "the defendant turned and spit at him." Lucas indicated to the police that "the defendant did not say anything to him before she spit."

The complaint indicates the incident was captured on cellphone video. It "shows that no one touched the defendant in any way or threatened her in any way before she spat."

The following day, Sunday, June 7, police went to Rapkin's residence to arrest her. The complaint says "she resisted officers' efforts to place her in handcuffs and during the handcuffing process the defendant kneed (an officer) in the groin."

When questioned about the spitting incident, the complaint says Rapkin "explained that she was a cancer survivor and felt threatened because she was surrounded and they did not have masks on. (The video shows that the defendant did not have a mask on at the time of the spitting incident.) She said they got too close so she spit."

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Lucas and his attorney addressed the charges filed against Rapkin.

"I also want to show the message that I am not just color and that my skin is not a weapon. I don't think black lives should just matter, they should also be equal," Lucas said.

"It seems unfair that a white woman can spit in a black man's face because he is black. The only thing the DA's office charged them with is a disorderly conduct which is a crime you can get for shouting too loud in a public place," Lucas' attorney Matthew Pinix said.

Lucas said he will be getting a coronavirus test on Tuesday, given the reported length of the incubation period, and hopes Rapkin does the same.

"She should be tested for everything. I don't know what she might have had," he said.

Statement of Family of Eric Lucas

Statement from the Shorewood Village Board