Anonymous tipsters quickly identified two women accused of attacking a state senator after images of the pair were widely circulated.
Samantha R. Hamer, 26, and Kerida E. O'Reilly, 33, both from Madison, turned themselves in to police and were arrested for being parties to the crime of substantial battery and robbery with use of force.
In separate hearings, the women were charged today in Dane County Circuit Court with one felony count each of substantial battery intending bodily harm, party to a crime.
State Sen. Tim Carpenter says he was attacked outside the Capitol early June 24 while filming a group demonstrating around the capitol square.
O'Reilly's attorney, Nathan Otis, moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of probable cause that connected the two women to the actual physical attack on Carpenter causing his injuries.
Hamer's attorney, Adam Welch, also moved to dismiss.
However District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, representing the state in this case, pointed to the video taken by Carpenter saying that it clearly showed the two women making contact with the senator.
The judge agreed with Ozanne and denied the motion.
The judge ordered a signature bond for both women and banned them from the state Capitol square area.
In a video posted to his Twitter page, Carpenter, a senator from the Milwaukee area, said he was punched and kicked in the head, neck and ribs.
The video shows two women rushing at him, demanding he stop recording.
Investigators say the two women are O'Reilly and Hamer.
One tipster told police she was a former client of O'Reilly, who is a physical therapist in Madison, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dane County Court.
Multiple callers also identified Hamer as an employee of the Mt. Horeb School District. School district officials confirmed her identity when contacted by police during the investigation, according to the complaint.
Hamer currently is on leave from her position as a social worker with the district.
O'Reilly told police the two women had not met before that night, according to the complaint.
Photo: WKOW