Tony Robinson Was Unarmed When Fatally Shot By Wisconsin Police Officer

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A 19-year-old black man who died after being shot by a white police officer was unarmed, the Madison police chief said Saturday, assuring protesters who earlier in the day had chanted “Black Lives Matter” that his department would defend their rights to gather while imploring the community to express their anger with “responsibility and restraint.”

Tony Robinson was shot Friday night after assaulting Officer Matt Kenny, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said. Kenny was injured, Koval said, but didn’t provide details. It wasn’t clear whether Robinson, who died at a hospital, was alone in the apartment.

“He was unarmed. That’s going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, for the public to accept,” Koval said during a news conference. Police department spokesman Joel DeSpain said Kenny would not have been wearing a body camera.

Several dozen protesters gathered earlier Saturday outside of the Dane County Public Safety Building holding signs that read “Black Lives Matter” — a slogan adopted by activists and protesters around the nation after recent officer-involved deaths of unarmed blacks — before walking toward the neighborhood where the shooting took place. Protesters also shouted the slogan Friday night.

Koval, who struck a conciliatory tone during Saturday’s news conference, said he understood the anger and distrust taking hold in the community and that “for those who do want to take to the street and protest,” his department would be there to “defend, facilitate, foster those First Amendment rights of assembly and freedom of speech.”

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