MADISON, Wis. – Students from University of Wisconsin-Madison and local high schools staged a walkout Monday morning and marched to the State Capitol, where about 1,500 protested the death of Tony Robinson, 19, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by a Madison police officer Friday night.
Just before noon, protesters began to enter the Capitol amid chants by organizers, "Be peaceful." It quickly grew into one of the largest Capitol protests since the 2011 rallies against limits on public sector unions, and the share of people of color in this protest easily surpassed that of the previous crowds. The protest remained peaceful.
The high school marchers stopped on Williamson Street near the scene where Robinson was shot. They chanted, "I am Tony Robinson, we are Tony Robinson" and "Whose streets, our streets."
Several hundred marchers from the university arrived at the Capitol first and gathered on the State Street stairs, chanting, "No justice, no peace." Many of them then entered the Capitol and gathered in the rotunda.
Students were asked by organizers to wear all black to mourn the death of Robinson.
Protesters largely had cleared out of the Capitol by 1 p.m. and began marching on streets near the Capitol. Mayor Paul Soglin spoke to the crowd soon afterward.
He urged them to address larger issues like racism and cuts in school funding, but was shouted down by protesters periodically. When he said, "the death of Anthony Robinson," protesters shouted back, "Murder!"
As the protests began, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval issued an apology to the Robinson family in his blog.
