Protesters gathered at the courthouse in Madison, Wisconsin to press their demands for justice following the release of a 2007 police video of a black man being shot by the same officer who shot dead a black teenager last month.
On March 6, police officer Matt Kenny shot and killed Tony
Robinson, a 19-year-old biracial man, after forcing his way into
an apartment where Robinson was staying. Kenny, responding to 911
calls that said Robinson was acting aggressively, was allegedly
attacked by the black teenager, prompting the white officer to
draw his weapon and shoot the unarmed teenager numerous times.
“We do know that Tony was unarmed and was shot at least seven
times in the chest and head by officer Kenny,” said a
spokesman for the Robinson family, Jerome Flowers, outside the
Dane County courthouse on Monday, the Guardian reported.
“This was neither reasonable nor necessary.”
#TonyRobinson#DontreHamilton Join students nationwide planning to Shut It Down on April 14 pic.twitter.com/YhoTNOgMh7
— SMIN Chicago (@StopMassIncChi) April 3, 2015
Members of the Young, Gifted and Black organization, together with Robinson's family, held a news conference in front of the Dane County courthouse to call on the UN's Human Rights Council to investigate the young man’s death because they feel the US government can't be trusted to handle the case.
READ MORE: Ferguson police chief resigns following DOJ report
Madison police officials have not said exactly how many times
Robinson was shot, only revealing that he was hit in the head,
chest and right upper extremity.
Robinson’s death has attracted a fresh wave of protest against
police violence, and the demonstrators are pushing for Kenny to
be indicted. No announcement has been made as the Dane County
district attorney continues to consider the details of the case.
People gathered on willy st to march to the courthouse for #TonyRobinson#nbc15pic.twitter.com/lbTYCLGQwG
— Sharon Yoo (@SharonNBC15) April 6, 2015
Meanwhile, a video has emerged showing that Matt Kenny was the
same police officer who fatally shot another black man, Ronald
Brandon, seven years ago.
Police in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday released video footage of
a fatal shooting in 2007 involving the same police officer who
shot dead 19-year-old Tony Robinson last month, prompting
protesters to demand an investigation.
Protesters demand indictment in Tony Robinson killing #Justice4Tony#MadisonShootingpic.twitter.com/BB9AcxRom3
— Pat Schneider (@PatSchneiderCT) April 6, 2015
The footage released Monday, taken from the on-board video camera
of a squad car, reportedly shows the moments immediately before
Matt Kenny fatally shoots Ronald Brandon. Kenny was later cleared
of guilt after it was determined that Brandon, who was 48, had
allegedly pulled out a pellet gun and committed “suicide by
cop.”
The footage, which was redacted so as not to show the moment of
death, was released in response to a request from The Associated
Press.
READ MORE: Racist Ferguson police emails revealed
News of the video has rippled through the black community, still
grappling with the death of Michael Brown, a black teenager who
was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014 by a white
police officer.
That incident sparked a wave of grassroots protests across the
country, with demonstrators using as their rallying call:
“Black Lives Matter.”
A report by the District of Justice, the culmination of a
six-month investigation into the death of Michael Brown, pointed
to a number of deep-seated problems inside of the Ferguson Police
Department, including a systemic bias against blacks in Ferguson,
where white police officers far outnumbered blacks although
African Americans made up 67.4 percent of the population,
according to the 2010 Census.