SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Community Responds with Protest After Shooting of Black Teen in Wisconsin
Angry residents in city of Madison respond to news that police officers shot and killed young man who was apparently unarmed
Mar 07, 2015
The shooting of an apparently unarmed black teenager by police in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday night prompted local protests and marks the latest incident of community members responding in anger following a perceived use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.
Though officials have not released the name of the man who was shot and killed, family and friends identified him as 19-year-old Tony Robinson, who graduated from a local high school in 2014.
Following news of the shooting, as this raw video footage shows, local residents gathered near the scene, and later police headquarters, as they shouted chants which include "Black lives matter!" and "No justice, no peace -- prosecute the po-lice!":
The shooting in Madison comes in the immediate wake of Department of Justice report this week--conducted in response to the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last year--which charged the police department in the St. Louis suburb of engaging in a pattern of racially discriminatory practices against its predominantly black residents. As in Ferguson and elsewhere across the country, community members in Madison have said they often feel signaled out by local police and claim their is a pattern of racial profiling and aggressive behavior by police that has been ongoing.
"I'm angry," said one local resident at the scene, "because we have been saying over and over that we would soon have a Ferguson on our hands, everyone keeps denying that we have a problem."
Andrea Irwin, who told local WKOW-TV on Friday night she is Robinson's mother, said, "My son has never been a violent person. And to die in such a violent, violent way, it baffles me."
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin told the Wisconsin State Journal that in response to Friday's shooting there would be an out-of-area investigation as required by a newly passed state law.
"It's a tragedy beyond description," Soglin told the Journal. "I expect there will be a lot of anger and frustrations."
According to Reuters:
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval told reporters that an officer responded to a disturbance at around 6:30 p.m. local time and later forced his way into an apartment that the 19-year-old, who was also suspected of a recent battery, had gone into.
Koval said that a struggle between the suspect and the officer ensued and the teen was fatally shot, according to a recording of the news conference published by broadcaster WKOW.
"The initial finding at the scene did not reflect a gun or anything of that nature that would have been used by the subject," Koval said.
Speaking to those who knew the victim, the Wisconsin State Journal added:
Robinson's aunt Lorien Carter described her nephew as "a beautiful young man" and "gentle," and said, "He didn't deserve this."
Carter said the family was encouraging peaceful protest.
"Don't give them the excuse" to minimize Robinson's death, she said.
"Protest peacefully, please, but protest ... don't let it be in vain," she said.
"I think you need to rise up but I don't want violence," said [Robinson's grandmother, Sharon Irwin].
"The bottom line is a mother lost her child," said family friend Adam Mitchell. "He didn't deserve to die, especially under the circumstances."
Jack Spaulding, 17, of Madison, said he was a "best friend" of Robinson and came to the scene as soon as he heard about the shooting.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The shooting of an apparently unarmed black teenager by police in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday night prompted local protests and marks the latest incident of community members responding in anger following a perceived use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.
Though officials have not released the name of the man who was shot and killed, family and friends identified him as 19-year-old Tony Robinson, who graduated from a local high school in 2014.
Following news of the shooting, as this raw video footage shows, local residents gathered near the scene, and later police headquarters, as they shouted chants which include "Black lives matter!" and "No justice, no peace -- prosecute the po-lice!":
The shooting in Madison comes in the immediate wake of Department of Justice report this week--conducted in response to the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last year--which charged the police department in the St. Louis suburb of engaging in a pattern of racially discriminatory practices against its predominantly black residents. As in Ferguson and elsewhere across the country, community members in Madison have said they often feel signaled out by local police and claim their is a pattern of racial profiling and aggressive behavior by police that has been ongoing.
"I'm angry," said one local resident at the scene, "because we have been saying over and over that we would soon have a Ferguson on our hands, everyone keeps denying that we have a problem."
Andrea Irwin, who told local WKOW-TV on Friday night she is Robinson's mother, said, "My son has never been a violent person. And to die in such a violent, violent way, it baffles me."
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin told the Wisconsin State Journal that in response to Friday's shooting there would be an out-of-area investigation as required by a newly passed state law.
"It's a tragedy beyond description," Soglin told the Journal. "I expect there will be a lot of anger and frustrations."
According to Reuters:
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval told reporters that an officer responded to a disturbance at around 6:30 p.m. local time and later forced his way into an apartment that the 19-year-old, who was also suspected of a recent battery, had gone into.
Koval said that a struggle between the suspect and the officer ensued and the teen was fatally shot, according to a recording of the news conference published by broadcaster WKOW.
"The initial finding at the scene did not reflect a gun or anything of that nature that would have been used by the subject," Koval said.
Speaking to those who knew the victim, the Wisconsin State Journal added:
Robinson's aunt Lorien Carter described her nephew as "a beautiful young man" and "gentle," and said, "He didn't deserve this."
Carter said the family was encouraging peaceful protest.
"Don't give them the excuse" to minimize Robinson's death, she said.
"Protest peacefully, please, but protest ... don't let it be in vain," she said.
"I think you need to rise up but I don't want violence," said [Robinson's grandmother, Sharon Irwin].
"The bottom line is a mother lost her child," said family friend Adam Mitchell. "He didn't deserve to die, especially under the circumstances."
Jack Spaulding, 17, of Madison, said he was a "best friend" of Robinson and came to the scene as soon as he heard about the shooting.
The shooting of an apparently unarmed black teenager by police in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday night prompted local protests and marks the latest incident of community members responding in anger following a perceived use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.
Though officials have not released the name of the man who was shot and killed, family and friends identified him as 19-year-old Tony Robinson, who graduated from a local high school in 2014.
Following news of the shooting, as this raw video footage shows, local residents gathered near the scene, and later police headquarters, as they shouted chants which include "Black lives matter!" and "No justice, no peace -- prosecute the po-lice!":
The shooting in Madison comes in the immediate wake of Department of Justice report this week--conducted in response to the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last year--which charged the police department in the St. Louis suburb of engaging in a pattern of racially discriminatory practices against its predominantly black residents. As in Ferguson and elsewhere across the country, community members in Madison have said they often feel signaled out by local police and claim their is a pattern of racial profiling and aggressive behavior by police that has been ongoing.
"I'm angry," said one local resident at the scene, "because we have been saying over and over that we would soon have a Ferguson on our hands, everyone keeps denying that we have a problem."
Andrea Irwin, who told local WKOW-TV on Friday night she is Robinson's mother, said, "My son has never been a violent person. And to die in such a violent, violent way, it baffles me."
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin told the Wisconsin State Journal that in response to Friday's shooting there would be an out-of-area investigation as required by a newly passed state law.
"It's a tragedy beyond description," Soglin told the Journal. "I expect there will be a lot of anger and frustrations."
According to Reuters:
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval told reporters that an officer responded to a disturbance at around 6:30 p.m. local time and later forced his way into an apartment that the 19-year-old, who was also suspected of a recent battery, had gone into.
Koval said that a struggle between the suspect and the officer ensued and the teen was fatally shot, according to a recording of the news conference published by broadcaster WKOW.
"The initial finding at the scene did not reflect a gun or anything of that nature that would have been used by the subject," Koval said.
Speaking to those who knew the victim, the Wisconsin State Journal added:
Robinson's aunt Lorien Carter described her nephew as "a beautiful young man" and "gentle," and said, "He didn't deserve this."
Carter said the family was encouraging peaceful protest.
"Don't give them the excuse" to minimize Robinson's death, she said.
"Protest peacefully, please, but protest ... don't let it be in vain," she said.
"I think you need to rise up but I don't want violence," said [Robinson's grandmother, Sharon Irwin].
"The bottom line is a mother lost her child," said family friend Adam Mitchell. "He didn't deserve to die, especially under the circumstances."
Jack Spaulding, 17, of Madison, said he was a "best friend" of Robinson and came to the scene as soon as he heard about the shooting.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.