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High School Students Occupy Wisconsin Capitol Over Police Shooting of Black Teen
Madison teenagers call for "justice for Tony" after latest police killing of unarmed teen Tony Robinson
Mar 09, 2015
Roughly 1,500 high school and college students rallied at the Wisconsin Capitol on Monday in the fourth straight day of protests against Friday's police killing of unarmed black teenager Tony Robinson.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, students from all four Madison high schools as well as Sun Prairie High School, where Robinson graduated in 2014, rallied outside of area schools Monday morning before filling the rotunda and two upper floors of the State Capitol. The protest later paid visits to City Hall and the Madison police station.
"I came here because Tony deserves justice," Trinidy Clark, a 15-year-old student at West High School, told the State Journal.
The 19-year-old was unarmed when he was shot late Friday by Madison Police Officer Matthew Kenny, a fact that Chief Mike Koval on Saturday confirmed. The shooting comes amid growing awareness and outrage over police violence against people of color and occurred just days after a Justice Department report accused the police department in Ferguson, Missouri--where black teen Michael Brown was shot in August--of blatant racism and discriminatory policing practices.
During Monday's protest, the students, dressed in black, took up the banner of the "Black Lives Matter" in their call for "Justice for Tony." As they rallied, images and messages of support were shared widely on Twitter under the hashtags #TonyRobinson and #Justice4Tony.
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Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Roughly 1,500 high school and college students rallied at the Wisconsin Capitol on Monday in the fourth straight day of protests against Friday's police killing of unarmed black teenager Tony Robinson.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, students from all four Madison high schools as well as Sun Prairie High School, where Robinson graduated in 2014, rallied outside of area schools Monday morning before filling the rotunda and two upper floors of the State Capitol. The protest later paid visits to City Hall and the Madison police station.
"I came here because Tony deserves justice," Trinidy Clark, a 15-year-old student at West High School, told the State Journal.
The 19-year-old was unarmed when he was shot late Friday by Madison Police Officer Matthew Kenny, a fact that Chief Mike Koval on Saturday confirmed. The shooting comes amid growing awareness and outrage over police violence against people of color and occurred just days after a Justice Department report accused the police department in Ferguson, Missouri--where black teen Michael Brown was shot in August--of blatant racism and discriminatory policing practices.
During Monday's protest, the students, dressed in black, took up the banner of the "Black Lives Matter" in their call for "Justice for Tony." As they rallied, images and messages of support were shared widely on Twitter under the hashtags #TonyRobinson and #Justice4Tony.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Roughly 1,500 high school and college students rallied at the Wisconsin Capitol on Monday in the fourth straight day of protests against Friday's police killing of unarmed black teenager Tony Robinson.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, students from all four Madison high schools as well as Sun Prairie High School, where Robinson graduated in 2014, rallied outside of area schools Monday morning before filling the rotunda and two upper floors of the State Capitol. The protest later paid visits to City Hall and the Madison police station.
"I came here because Tony deserves justice," Trinidy Clark, a 15-year-old student at West High School, told the State Journal.
The 19-year-old was unarmed when he was shot late Friday by Madison Police Officer Matthew Kenny, a fact that Chief Mike Koval on Saturday confirmed. The shooting comes amid growing awareness and outrage over police violence against people of color and occurred just days after a Justice Department report accused the police department in Ferguson, Missouri--where black teen Michael Brown was shot in August--of blatant racism and discriminatory policing practices.
During Monday's protest, the students, dressed in black, took up the banner of the "Black Lives Matter" in their call for "Justice for Tony." As they rallied, images and messages of support were shared widely on Twitter under the hashtags #TonyRobinson and #Justice4Tony.
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