KENOSHA, Wis. — Disgraced former Kenosha Police officer and former Kenosha County Sheriff’s deputy Michael Angelo Rizzo lost his lawsuit against Kenosha County Eye Friday, marking another courtroom defeat in his campaign to challenge investigative reporting about his law-enforcement career and personal conduct.

Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David Wilk dismissed the lawsuit Friday. Rizzo had filed the case himself against Kenosha County Eye and publisher Kevin Mathewson, asking the court to issue a declaratory judgment declaring parts of KCE’s reporting about him inaccurate.

Rather than seeking damages, Rizzo asked the court to effectively rewrite the public record surrounding reporting about a domestic-violence restraining order obtained by a former fiancée in Arizona and his resignation from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office.

The judge dismissed the complaint.

The lawsuit stemmed from a series of investigative stories published by Kenosha County Eye throughout 2025 and early 2026 examining Rizzo’s law-enforcement history, disciplinary issues, and the fallout from the Arizona restraining-order case.

In the Arizona case, Rizzo’s former fiancée accused him of troubling conduct after their relationship ended. Court filings alleged he repeatedly contacted her after she wanted the relationship over, including phone calls and texts, and showed up uninvited at her home. She also alleged he appeared at places she frequented, including her gym, and once parked nearby while she was working in a marked police vehicle.

The petition also alleged Rizzo knocked on her door late at night and refused to leave immediately when asked. According to the filing, he also threatened to “blow his brains out,” a statement she reported to the court when seeking the protective order.

That restraining order later became a serious issue after Rizzo returned to Wisconsin and joined the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff David W. Zoerner hired Rizzo despite knowledge of the restraining order.

Internal records obtained by Kenosha County Eye later showed that Rizzo admitted violating the Arizona no-contact order by sending birthday cards and calling his former fiancée. The sheriff’s office opened an internal investigation.

Investigators concluded that Rizzo violated the court order and also lied during the investigation. According to those records, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office began termination proceedings against him.

Rizzo resigned just before he could be fired.

His resignation in lieu of termination and the internal findings about dishonesty became a central part of Kenosha County Eye’s reporting — and a major focus of the lawsuit he later filed.

During Friday’s court hearing, Rizzo also made a statement about his background that was contradicted by documents already obtained by Kenosha County Eye.

“There is absolutely no conviction whatsoever in any state, anywhere,” Rizzo told the judge in open court.

But Rizzo’s own plea agreement disputes that claim.

Court records from Arizona show Rizzo entered a plea agreement resolving a criminal case tied to interfering with judicial proceedings connected to the no-contact order.

Rizzo has also suffered additional legal setbacks tied to the same controversy. His appeal in Arizona related to the restraining-order litigation was dismissed on March 4, 2026, leaving the lower-court proceedings unchanged.

He also recently failed in an attempt to have his Arizona criminal record sealed or expunged, with a judge citing public-interest concerns.

Those efforts — the Wisconsin lawsuit against Kenosha County Eye, the Arizona appeal connected to the restraining order, and the attempt to erase his criminal conviction — appear to be part of Rizzo’s broader effort to rehabilitate his record as he seeks to obtain another law-enforcement job.

Mathewson said the ruling reinforces the importance of aggressive investigative reporting. “This is now the second time I’ve been unsuccessfully sued for writing the truth,” Mathewson said. “It’s irritating, but it won’t cause me to waver in my mission to hold people accountable, especially law enforcement officers who lie and violate the law. It was a very stupid move for Sheriff Zoerner to hire him amid the domestic restraining order scandal. What a terrible judgement call. If any other departments anywhere in this country hire him, they would be doing their community a serious disservice.”