The Latest in Madison: At least 25 arrested during protest
May 13, 2015, 3:12 PM
Andrea Irwin, center, mother of Tony Robinson, and her boyfriend, Jeff Jackson, center right, participate in a protest march on Williamson Street, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Madison, Wis. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced Tuesday that Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny would not face charges for the shooting death of Robinson. (M.P. King/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
(M.P. King/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — 4:50 p.m.
Police arrested more than two dozen people in Wisconsin’s capital during a protest over a prosecutor’s decision not to charge a white police officer for killing an unarmed biracial man.
Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain says police cited at least 25 people for obstructing an intersection near the state Capitol building on Wednesday afternoon. Almost all were released with a $124 misdemeanor fine.
The protesters are upset with the Dane County District Attorney’s decision not to charge Madison Officer Matt Kenny for shooting Tony Robinson in March. They blocked the street and shouted insults at arresting officers.
Kenny said he feared Robinson would take his gun after attacking the officer. District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said he felt Kenny’s actions were justified.
___
3:30 p.m.
Police in the Wisconsin capital have begun arresting protesters angry about a prosecutor’s decision not to charge a white police officer for shooting an unarmed biracial man.
Officers converged on about 20 protesters who refused to leave an intersection near the Capitol building on Wednesday. The protesters linked arms as they were detained, and some of them cried. Some onlookers shouted insults, including racial epithets, at the officers.
The 20 were among an estimated 150 to 200 demonstrators who marched peacefully through the streets earlier Wednesday and staged a mock trial for Officer Matt Kenny in the March 6 killing of Tony Robinson.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that he felt Kenny’s actions were justified and charges weren’t warranted.
___
2:15 p.m.
The mother of an unarmed biracial man who was killed by a white Madison police officer in March is questioning the official investigation of the incident.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that he won’t charge Officer Matt Kenny for shooting and killing Tony Robinson. The announcement triggered new protests Tuesday and Wednesday from those who want Kenny to stand trial.
Andrea Irwin says she doesn’t think the authorities have released all of the facts regarding her 19-year-old son’s death. She disputes Kenny’s account of the moments leading up to the shooting.
Kenny told investigators that Robinson hit him in the head and he feared Robinson would take his gun. Irwin says there’s no way Kenny’s story could have played out in such a short amount of time.
___
1:15 p.m.
People angry about a prosecutor’s decision not to charge a white Madison police officer for killing an unarmed biracial man have conducted a mock trial of the officer in protest.
About 150 to 200 protesters marched through the streets of Wisconsin’s capital city on Wednesday before gathering outside of the Dane County Courthouse to stage the fake trial.
The crowd cheered when actors said they would charge Officer Matt Kenny in the March killing of 19-year-old Tony Robinson. Members of the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition, which has led protests since the killing, said the demonstration was intended to represent the processes they wished Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne had used.
Ozanne said Tuesday that he believes Kenny’s actions were justified and didn’t warrant charges.
___
11:50 a.m.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says any protesters who break the law should expect to be arrested.
Scores of people are marching through the city to protest a prosecutor’s decision not to charge Madison police Officer Matt Kenny for shooting and killing an unarmed biracial man in March. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that he believes the shooting was justified.
Soglin says the city will provide “the greatest latitude” for anyone expressing their beliefs. But he says police won’t tolerate illegal acts such as the blocking of ambulances. He also urged protesters not to interfere with the arrests of others.
The mayor acknowledged that many community members are unhappy about Ozanne’s decision, but he said there are many who support it.
___
11:30 a.m.
Hundreds of protesters are blocking a downtown Madison intersection as they rally against a prosecutor’s decision not to charge a white police officer in the death of an unarmed biracial man.
The crowd blocked the intersection for about five minutes Wednesday morning during a march to the Dane County Courthouse, where they plan to stage a street trial of the city’s police department. The demonstration’s leaders say they need to put their bodies on the line to show the public that black lives matter.
Officer Matt Kenny shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in an apartment house on March 6. According to investigative reports, Robinson was high on mushrooms and punched Kenny in the head.
___
9:39 a.m.
Scores of protesters have gathered outside of an apartment house where a white Wisconsin police officer shot and killed an unarmed biracial man in March.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that he wouldn’t charge Madison Officer Matt Kenny in 19-year-old Tony Robinson’s death because he believes the shooting was justified.
About 100 demonstrators had gathered by 9:30 a.m. and were shouting protest slogans, including “No justice, no peace, no racist police.”
They plan to march downtown and conduct a street trial of the Madison Police Department. Volunteers from community groups such as 100 Black Men and the Urban League are watching the protesters and plan to advise anyone who appears to be on the verge of committing a crime to think twice.
___
9 a.m.
Protesters are gathering outside an apartment house where a white Wisconsin police officer shot and killed an unarmed biracial man in March.
The Young, Gifted and Black Coalition is asking people to leave work and school Wednesday and join them on a march from the apartment house to downtown Madison, where they plan to set up a street court to try the Madison Police Department themselves.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that he wouldn’t charge Officer Matt Kenny in Tony Robinson’s death because he believes the shooting was justified.
About a dozen people had gathered at the apartment house as of 9 a.m. with wagons loaded with coffee and water bottles.
___
1 a.m.
An activist group that has led several demonstrations over the police shooting of an unarmed man in Madison is calling for a widespread walkout.
Young, Gifted and Black is calling the effort Black Out Wednesday. They say it recognizes the death in March of Tony Robinson Jr., as well as struggles such as poverty and mass incarceration that blacks face in America.
The group is staging its effort one day after a Wisconsin prosecutor declined to charge a white police officer in the death of Robinson, who was biracial. The prosecutor said the officer used lawful deadly force after he was punched in the head by Robinson and feared for his life.
Some 300 people staged a peaceful march Tuesday from the apartment building where Robinson was shot to the Capitol.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
