Protest against police violence breaks out in US city
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E-mail Xinhua, March 12, 2015
Around 1,500 people took to the street on Wednesday in the U.S. city of Madison to protest the killing of an unarmed African American teenager by police.
Tony Robinson, a 19-year-old African American, was shot dead last Friday evening during a confrontation with a police officer.
Some protesters had signs that compared the shooting to those of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy fatally shot by police while holding a pellet gun in Cleveland.
A large banner at the front of the march read, "Black Lives Matter," a common slogan used by protesters against police violence in the United States.
"I knew Tony personally, he was a very good friend of mine," said Terrence Moore, a high school student from Madison. "He was a good person, it shouldn't have happened. I don't want this to happen to nobody else, not just black, white, Mexican, anybody."
"You're a person before anything, a human being before a cop, or a human being before a criminal, so use your morals," he added.
On the other part of the city, a pro-police counter-protest began. The crowd was smaller, numbering about 100, and included people wearing police union shirts. One sign read, "Blue lives matter too".
Protester Katie Brower held a sign that said "I Love My MPD (Madison Police Department) Dad" and stood on the corner with two children beside her.
Protests are expected to continue throughout the week, and funeral services for Tony Robinson will happen on Saturday at East High School in Madison.
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