Some people left balloons, cards and other tributes outside Robinson’s house. Gilman Halsted/WPR.
A pastor speaking at a memorial service for Robinson Sunday. Gilman/WPR.
Many Madison residents spent time Sunday memorializing the death of a 19-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a police officer on Friday.
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Family and friends of Tony Robinson gathered at a church in the morning for a service in his honor. In his sermon, Pastor Everett Mitchell of the Christ in the Solid Rock Baptist Church said Robinson’s death signals the need for more community involvement in keeping the peace in black neighborhoods.
“The idea is that communities ought to be able to decide how they are being policed,” he said.
He continued: “Just like whites have a choice, black folks, just because you ain’t got money you still should have a choice.”
Later, hundreds of Madison residents gathered in area where Robinson was shot to hold a candlelight vigil in his memory.
The shooting sparked protests over the weekend, including a march on Saturday led by the Young, Gifted, and Black coalition. Students at a high school near the scene of the shooting plan to walk out of school on Monday to protest police violence.
The state Department of Justice is investigating the shooting and has promised to keep Robinsons’ family informed about the results.
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