Protests In Wisconsin Will Be The Rule This Summer. Expect Riots All Summer Long!

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March 09, 2015, 06:48 pm

Protests continue in Wisconsin after death of unarmed black teen

By Ben Kamisar

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Hundreds of protestors took to the Wisconsin state capitol building on Monday to protest the death of an unarmed black man shot by a white officer in an altercation last week.  

An officer shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in Madison on Friday while responding to a call about a disturbance. Police say Robinson attacked the officer, Matt Kenny.

"Reconciliation cannot begin without my stating 'I am sorry,' and I don't think I can say this enough. I am sorry," Chief Mike Koval wrote in a blog post on the city’s website, according to USA Today. 

"I hope that, with time, Tony's family and friends can search their hearts to render some measure of forgiveness.”

The city’s website was not responding as of Monday evening.

Kenny had been involved in a fatal shooting in 2007, where he shot and killed drunk man waving a gun around, according to ABC. Officers later discovered that the man had called the police on himself and had been holding a pellet gun. 

Robinson’s death came just days after the Justice Department announced it would not charge a white Ferguson, Mo., police officer for civil rights violations in the death last year of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The Justice Department also released a report that showed a systematic disregard for the civil rights of black residents and is now working with the department to make changes.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) called Robinson’s death a “tragic loss of life close to home” in a tweet from Sunday. She added: “My heart is with the Robinson family.” 

Robinson’s family has called for peace in the wake of his death, and protestors have obliged, according to local news reports. A rally also brought marchers from the University of Wisconsin to the state capitol building, according to The Washington Post. 

Protests at the building are not unheard of, and over the years, many have protested Wisconsin’s union laws there.

Turin Carter, Robinson’s uncle, repeatedly cast the incident as not systemic of the Madison police at large while also connecting it to the recent deaths of unarmed black men in altercations with white police officers. 

“We are not proponents of being anti-police,” he said to a throng of reporters. “[This] highlights a universal problem with law enforcement and how its procedures have been carried out specifically in regards to the systemic targeting of young black males.”