A witness who saw the attack told police that as many as 10 people joined in, punching and kicking Sen. Carpenter once he was on the ground. When the beating ended, Carpenter stumbled toward the capitol and collapsed in the grass (photo above). He later was helped inside by police and eventually sought medical attention at a hospital. Carpenter eventually had surgery connected to the beating he received that night.

Monday the Madison police department released photos of two women suspects and asked for the public’s help identifying them. They quickly got tips giving them the names and the two women turned themselves in the same day. They were charged with assault and robbery. Who are these women? One is a physical therapist and the other is a high school social worker:

Samantha Hamer, 26, and Kerida O’Reilly, 33, were arrested Monday on charges of substantial bodily injury and robbery with use of force for their alleged role in the beating of state Sen. Tim Carpenter, a Democrat from Milwaukee.

Hamer works as a social worker for the Mount Horeb School District in suburban Madison.

O’Reilly is a licensed physical therapist in Madison who graduated from Marquette University’s Doctorate in Physical Therapy program in 2011, according to The Body Resilient’s website…

The two women turned themselves in Monday after a monthlong search by Madison police for those who attacked Carpenter during protests and riots on June 23 in downtown Madison.

Samantha Hamer has now been placed on administrative leave but until earlier this week she was one of the people parents were advised they could turn to for help if their high school student was “feeling upset and just wants to talk to someone about how they are feeling.” I’m thinking most high school students have more sense than to beat someone up for filming them. Maybe she should be calling them for advice.

O’Reilly’s attorney told the Associated Press she was innocent:

O’Reilly’s attorney, Nathan Otis, said in an email to The Associated Press that it will become clear that she didn’t commit any crime, and that the lack of evidence will become clear as the case progresses.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the two women turn on each other or perhaps name some of the other people who allegedly joined in on the attack of Sen. Carpenter that night.

As I pointed out last month, the riot that took place in Madison that night wasn’t a peaceful protest that somehow got out of hand, it was intended to be a riot from the start because people were angry about the arrest of a black activist that had taken place earlier in the day.

Devonere Johnson, who calls himself Yeshua, walked into a bar with a megaphone and baseball bat with “black lives matter” painted on it. He was shouting at a customer through the bullhorn, calling him a racist. Police were called and arrived as Johnson tried to walk away. He was arrested outside on the sidewalk and video of the arrrest (with Johnson saying he “didn’t do nothing”) circulated on social media.

Later that night, a group of people gathered outside the jail where Johnson was held. They blocked traffic and pulled a driver out of a tow truck. A person in the crowd then stood on the truck and told the crowd of about 300, “This is not a peaceful protest, so if you came out here for a peaceful protest, you missed it.” At the end of the night after breaking some windows, setting a fire and a long standoff with police, the crowd chanted “Free Yeshua!”

Here’s what got the whole thing started that night: