🚨NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS INVOLVED🚨
FOX 10 Phoenix published September 6, 2023: Report: Wisconsin student attacked, sexually assaulted. Wisconsin police say that a female University of Wisconsin student was "severely beaten" in Madison early Sunday morning, prompting increased police presence in the area.
WISN 12 News published September 7, 2023: Man charged in 'brutal' UW attack. The complaint says the female victim has traumatic brain injury, broken bones and lost a tooth in Madison attack.
FOX6 News Milwaukee published September 7, 2023: UW attack, UWM grad charged. A UW student was brutally attacked and raped early Sunday, and the UWM graduate charged made his initial court appearance Thursday. Cash bond was set at $1 million.
Fox6 News, Milwaukee, Wisconsin local
written by Madalyn O'Neill and FOX6 News Digital Team
Thursday September 7, 2023
MADISON, Wis. - A University of Wisconsin student was brutally attacked and raped early Sunday, Sept. 3, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate charged made his initial court appearance Thursday, Sept. 7. Cash bond was set at $1 million.
"Sadly, this was a pretty vicious rape," said William Brown, prosecutor.
Brandon Thompson, 26, is charged with first-degree sexual assault, first-degree reckless injury and strangulation. Police said the victim, a woman in her 20s, was "brutally attacked" and "severely beaten" in downtown Madison.
Investigation begins
According to Madison police, the victim was found near Wilson and Bedford streets – roughly a half-mile from Kohl Center – around 3:20 a.m. Sunday. The first officer at the scene described the victim's condition as "one of the most horrifying things I've seen," according to a criminal complaint.
She was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The complaint states the victim suffered a "traumatic brain injury" and was initially placed in a medically induced coma. Her jaw was broken, her eyes were swollen shut and she had "severe" lacerations. A nurse believed the victim had been strangled, and described the sexual assault case as "one of the worst I've seen."
Four days after the attack, the victim remained hospitalized on a feeding tube, largely unable to communicate.
The complaint states a man named "Brandon" told residents in the area the victim needed help. He told a witness that he found the victim in the street but did not want to be around when police came because he was high. He then left the scene. Another witness said they saw the man had dried blood on his hands. Police later identified the man as Thompson.
"Our investigation revealed that Thompson was at the scene of the crime, as evidenced by a witness during our initial canvass," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Wednesday. "Thompson told this witness that he had ‘just found’ our survivor, pretending to be an innocent bystander."
Another witness told police, per the complaint, that the victim was at her apartment the night before the attack. That witness said she sent a text at 2:43 a.m. asking if the victim made it home OK but never heard back. The witness also said the victim was "not a person who partied or a drug user."
Surveillance video
Police said video evidence played a key role in identifying Thompson, along with the witness statements and biological evidence. Based on the victim not responding to the text and witness statements, it is believed the attack took place around 2:40 a.m.
Surveillance showed the victim near Park and Washington around 2:25 a.m. and a Chevrolet sedan parking at nearby Brittingham Park around the same time. A man got out of the car and started walking toward Washington Avenue. The victim kept walking down Washington Avenue toward Bedford Street, and the complaint states surveillance showed her pass an apartment building on Bedford Street with someone following her around 2:37 a.m.
At around 3 a.m., the Chevrolet was seen leaving Brittingham Park and driving to the area of Washington and Bedford. That video captured the car's license plate, the complaint states.
Investigators learned a Fitchburg police officer had pulled over the same car around 1:20 a.m. the morning of the attack, and the officer's body camera footage showed the driver, Thompson, wearing the same clothing as the man who got out of the car at Brittingham Park and walked toward Washington Avenue. Thompson was later arrested at a hospital and made "incriminating statements."
Thompson in custody
While speaking to police, the complaint states Thompson said he was mad and "wanted to hit something." He admitted he encountered a woman, "saw red" and "didn't know what was going on." The next thing he remembered, per the complaint, the woman was on the ground in front of him, and "She came across a monster." He said he did not remember the sexual assault, but said he "went into a rage." Asked if he could have sexually assaulted the victim, Thompson said: "I could have."
Forensic analysis compared Thompson's DNA to a single source of "foreign male" DNA found on the victim. That DNA was "consistent with the profile of Brandon Thompson," the complaint states, with a "probability of one in one quadrillion" – noted as the "highest probability that the Wisconsin State Crime Lab will identify."
Wisconsin court records indicate Thompson has no criminal history, and police said there is no known connection between Thompson and the victim.
A UWM graduate
In a statement Thursday, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee confirmed Thompson was a 2019 graduate of the criminal justice program, adding: "The attack in Madison has disheartened everyone, and we are keeping the victim and her family in our thoughts."
"All in all this is a case in which you have someone who’s going to likely spend the remainder of their life in the state prison system," said Brown.
Cash bond was set at $1 million in court Thursday as Thompson's attorney argued for $10,000.
Unbelievable! His Commie Democrat attorney believes he should be released on a measely $10,000 bond. This Commie Justice for Criminals Attorney doesn't care about public safety. Makes you wonder how many times he has committed such a violent act against women and got away with it because of his public persona and he's a military brat too. His father is an US army veteran who worked for the US Dept of Veterans Affairs. Soooo... I'm speculating there can be some past covering up situations. (emphasis mine)
TMJ4 News published September 7, 2023: Suspect in UW-Madison brutal attack has Milwaukee ties. The man accused of brutally attacking a UW-Madison student graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 2019. According to his attorney, Brandon Thompson, 26, graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in Criminal Justice Administration and a minor in Psychology. Thompson’s name is listed in the December 15, 2019 commencement list on UW-Milwaukee’s website.
His attorney tells TMJ4 News, Thompson graduated from Oregon High School and his family has strong ties to the Madison Community. Thompson currently works for a biotech company in the Madison area and his father is an Army veteran who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
TMJ4 NBC News, Milwaukee, Wisconsin local
written by Shaun Gallagher
Wednesday September 6, 2023
MADISON, Wis. — The man accused of brutally attacking a UW-Madison student graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 2019.
According to his attorney, Thompson graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in Criminal Justice Administration and a minor in Psychology. Thompson’s name is listed in the December 15, 2019 commencement list on UW-Milwaukee’s website.
His attorney tells TMJ4 News, Thompson graduated from Oregon High School and his family has strong ties to the Madison Community. Thompson currently works for a biotech company in the Madison area and his father is an Army veteran who worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Now, he’s awaiting charges for first-degree sexual assault, first-degree reckless injury, and strangulation, after a woman was found naked and bloody behind a home in Madison early Sunday morning. TMJ4 News has a general policy against the use of mugshots in its news coverage.
While police are holding back details from the attack, radio traffic paints a disturbing picture.
“Behind the house, a naked female covered in blood.”
“We’re in contact with her. She’s beaten up pretty good. She’s not really conscious.”
“This case will not be complete until this cowardly attacker receives the justice he deserves,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Barnes announced law enforcement arrested Thompson early Wednesday morning. He credited collaboration between law enforcement agencies, a variety of video, and community tips to the apprehension of Thompson.
Sunday morning, about two hours before the victim was found, police say Thompson was pulled over by Fitchburg Police for a registration violation. Investigators matched Thompson’s clothing in those officers’ body camera footage to surveillance videos in Madison later that night.
“Clothing worn by Thompson matches several public space cameras which caught him walking on foot behind our victim just prior to the assault,” Barnes said.
Additionally, Barnes says Thompson remained at the scene of the crime and spoke to a witness.
“Our investigation revealed Thompson was at the scene of the crime as evidenced by witnesses during our initial canvass,” Barnes said. “Thompson told this witness he had just found our survivor, pretending to be an innocent bystander. We now know, he refused to stay on scene and immediately left in his vehicle parked nearby.”
The woman is expected to survive but is still in critical condition.
“Her life is forever changed,” Assistant Chief Paige Valenta of the Madison Police Department said. “Her family’s life is forever changed. We will continue to work hard to ensure that Mr. Thompson is held fully accountable in a court of law for the heinous act he perpetrated.”
Valenta says in addition to the video evidence investigators collected, there is a variety of biological evidence.
“It’s fair to say this investigation is still closer to the beginning than its end,” Valenta said. “We certainly intend to and have submitted evidence to a crime lab of the biological realm.”
Valenta did not provide an estimate for when the results from the biological evidence will be finished.
TMJ4 News looked into Thompson’s background and found nothing but a couple of speeding tickets. The lack of a criminal history is something Chief Barnes said, raises even more questions.
“From my experience, that’s always a very big part of the investigation,” Barnes said. “Usually, there may be something this person may be hiding, something in personal or past life that we may need to know.”
Charges are expected to be filed against Thompson on Thursday.
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