Funeral Of Unarmed Teen Tony Robinson Attended By A Thousand People
Over a thousand people gathered to remember Tony Robinson, an unarmed biracial Wisconsin teen, who was killed by police on Monday. Robinson’s tragic death lead to peaceful protests. This is yet another senseless death that struck a chord with a community due to a string of police violence against African Americans.
According to authorities, the 19-year-old died after being shot in the head, torso, and upper body after he assaulted a police officer in his home. Police Chief Mike Koval said he didn’t know if Tony Robinson was armed, but “initial findings at the scene did not reflect a gun or anything of that nature that would have been used by the subject.”
Robinson’s high school, Madison East High School, paid their respects on Saturday afternoon, and over a thousand people gathered to remember the former student.
In order to give everyone a place to mourn, the high school set up an assembly to broadcast the funeral services on television screens. It’s believed that the gathering lasted for two hours.
Tony Terrell Robinson Jr., known to people simply as “Terrell,” is yet another face on the “Black Lives Matter” slogan adopted by activists. A few individuals wore the slogan on T-shirts as an opportunity to silently protest Robinson’s death.
At least 1,000 people attended #TonyRobinson‘s funeral http://t.co/GXTLpdcLOp pic.twitter.com/5I4f5k9Vxj
— deray mckesson (@deray) March 15, 2015
On Friday night, Robinson’s mother, Andrea Irwin, said of her son, “My son has never been a violent person. And to die in such a violent, violent way, it baffles me.”
Prior to the funeral, the family put out a statement.
“While we appreciate the support in the form of peaceful protests, and justified anger about the manner in which his life was taken away from us too soon, this is not the venue to express that.”
Nearly 2,000 people protest fatal police shooting of #TonyRobinson in Wisconsin http://t.co/fVHeECDDyv pic.twitter.com/BX7xz961uh — HuffPost BlackVoices (@blackvoices) March 10, 2015
Tony’s aunt, Lorien Carter, released a statement to WISC-TV, “Tony is not a victim. He’s our own martyr, a champion of change. And for you I will always stand.”
Hundreds attend funeral of Tony Robinson, 19-year-old killed by Madison, Wisconsin police: http://t.co/QCKWnjXnQ4 pic.twitter.com/UKQ5xlTVHP
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 15, 2015
RT @PointWellTaken: High School Students flooding WI state capital demanding answers for the death of #TonyRobinson pic.twitter.com/Sq8Q93IRrw — Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) March 10, 2015
Everything you need to know about the shooting of Tony Robinson http://t.co/CnZDX6ePT4 #Justice4Tony #TonyRobinson pic.twitter.com/N5IEZ30WfB
— Black Youth Project (@BlackYouthProj) March 9, 2015
Family of #TonyRobinson: “Something needs to change” http://t.co/LFVwKkdkzL pic.twitter.com/HGv6x1KM2y — CBS News (@CBSNews) March 9, 2015
[Image via Twitter]
