Wisconsin Cop Will Not Face Charges In Shooting Death Of Tony Robinson
By aaroncynic in News on May 13, 2015 2:20PM
Demonstrators, most of whom are students who walked out of their classrooms, protest the death of Tony Robinson outside of the City Hall building on March 9, 2015 in Madison, Wisconsin (Getty Images)
Madison, Wisconsin police officer Matt Kenny will not be charged in the death of Tony Robinson, a biracial man Kenny shot and killed in March, Dane county prosecutors said. Robinson’s death, another in a long line of deaths of people of color by white police officers, sparked multiple protests in Madison.
Police said that Robinson, who was unarmed, had been running through traffic and assaulted two people before entering a home, where officer Kenny said Robinson attacked him. Kenny fired seven shots in three seconds, striking Robinson in the head, torso and upper body.
"I conclude that his tragic and unfortunate death was the result of a lawful use of deadly police force, and that no charges should be brought against Officer Kenny, ” Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said in a press conference,the AP reports.
The news was the culmination of a two month long investigation by the Wisconsin state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation. According to Slate, Ozanne added:
“My decision will not bring Tony Robinson Jr. back. My decision will not end the racial disparities that exist in the justice system, in our justice system. My decision is not based on emotion. Rather, this decision is based on the facts as they have been investigated and reported to me."
This is not the first time a Wisconsin officer has not faced charges for killing an unarmed man and not the first time Kenny has killed someone in the line of duty. Eight years ago Kenny shot and killed Ronald Brandon after he pointed a pellet gun at him. Brandon, a white man who had called the police on himself, was sitting intoxicated on his front porch. According to CNN, his ex-wife Susan had also called the police in an attempt to let them know the gun he had was not real:
"I think he called you because he wants to end his drunkenness. I hear the sirens coming. Jesus criminy. It's not a real gun. I think he wants to be taken away."
Brandon’s death was ruled a “suicide by cop.”
In another case from late December, the Milwaukee County District Attorney decided not to file charges against the officer who shot Dontre Hamilton, a 31 year-old mentally ill homeless man, 14 times.
Robinson's mother, Andrea Irwin, said the investigation wasn’t thorough enough. “They could have done a lot. What they didn't do was give my son any respect.”
The ACLU of Wisconsin also had harsh criticism for the decision. In a statement, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said:
“If Officer Kenny did not violate the law, then is anyone legally responsible for Mr. Robinson’s death? Does the criminal law protect individuals like Mr. Robinson from deadly force exercised by police officers? Are police officers above the law?”
Sharon Irwin, Robinson’s grandmother, told reporters the decision was “politics, not justice.” “My grandson has been slandered from the beginning,” said Irwin. “I don’t have the option to hold him anymore. I miss him and really love him. He was a great kid.”
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets to protest the decision. "I'm not surprised,” Corinda Rainey-Moore told the Milwaukee Journal Standard outside the home where Robinson was killed. ”Unfortunately I think it is going to send the message that young African-American men are invisible, that they don't matter, that they can be shot seven times and it won't matter.”