MADISON - Demonstrators marched Saturday to protest the police killing of an unarmed 19-year-old black man in Madison, a shooting that came amid growing scrutiny of law enforcement's use of lethal force against minorities, the poor and mentally ill.
Chanting "the whole damn system is guilty as hell," hundreds of protesters walked peacefully from the Wisconsin capital's police headquarters to the neighborhood where the unarmed victim, Tony Robinson Jr., was shot by police on Friday evening.
They carried a banner reading "Black Lives Matter" that stretched the width of the street and signs that read "Justice 4 Tony" and "5 Shots 5 Times Unacceptable."
The shooting occurred after a police officer - identified as Matt Kenny, a 12-year veteran of the department - responded to calls reporting a man was dodging cars in traffic and had battered another person, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said.
Kenny followed the suspect into an apartment, was struck in the head and shot the teen, who died later at a hospital, Koval said.
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Madison Police Chief Mike Koval confirmed reports from protesters and family members that Robinson was not armed when he was fatally shot.
"He was unarmed," Koval said Saturday, "and that’s going to make this all the more complicated … for the public to accept, to understand and to wait patiently for what other circumstances, if any, were there … such that deadly force had to be used.”
Kenny, 45, has been placed on paid leave during the investigation into Friday's shooting. Kenny was involved in a prior fatal police shooting in 2007 on Camden Road that was determined to be "suicide by cop," Koval said. He was exonerated of any criminal liability and commended for valor in that incident, Koval said.
Asked to talk about any previous interaction between Robinson and police, Koval declined, saying it would be "wholly inappropriate" to discuss such details so soon after Robinson was killed.
"I am not going to blemish anyone’s character," Koval said.
The inquiry into the shooting is being led by the state Division of Criminal Investigation as a result of a new state law requiring third-party reviews in officer-involved deaths.
The chief said he met with Robinson's grandparents Friday night and asked that people respect the family's call for peaceful protests. Koval acknowledged the police shooting of an unarmed black man places the department under great scrutiny from the community.
“Our trust factor is in a volatile place,” he said.
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Across the street from the house where Robinson was shot, friends and supporters gathered on Saturday, many in tears.
"I've seen it all over the news, innocent people getting shot by the police. Never once would I have thought it would happen to one of my best friends," said Ramsey Peck, 18, a friend of the victim.
Peck described his friend as "the complete opposite of aggressive."
Alexandra Yahnke, a 24-year-old college student who lives in the neighborhood, said: "This area definitely has some issues with race relations that no one really talks about."
The Wisconsin State Journal contributed to this report.
