A variety of activities are planned as the community is invited to mark the ninth anniversary of Tony Robinson’s death and to honor his life tonight with a mural dedication at McPike Park.
The mural at McPike Park, originally painted by local artist Amira Caire, is a print of an artwork originally installed on State Street in 2020. This project was made possible by the Marquette Neighborhood Association and funded in part by a grant from the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
“It’s such a beautiful mural. We are so happy with how the mural turned out. Amira [Caire] gave us her blessing to use the art,” Kristin Mathews, a board member for the Social Justice Center and one of the organizers of tonight’s mural dedication, tells Madison365. “It’s here at McPike Park for a year and then it travels down to the Common Wealth [Development] Building on Williamson St. for the second year. The grant is a two-year grant.”
Robinson was 19 on March 6, 2015, when he was shot seven times by Madison police officer Matt Kenny in the stairwell of Robinson’s Williamson Street apartment on Madison’s East Side. Robinson’s friends had called 911, concerned for his mental health as he was reportedly acting erratically and jumping into traffic and yelling. Kenny told investigators that Robinson allegedly attacked him, hitting him on the side of the face with a closed fist.
At the time, District Attorney Ismael Ozanne declined to charge Kenny, saying his use of force was lawful. In 2017, the City of Madison’s insurance company paid a $3.35 million civil settlement to Robinson’s family — the highest amount ever awarded in a civil case over an officer-involved shooting in Wisconsin.
Mathews encourages people to visit the page “In Pursuit of Justice” to find out more information about Robinson’s death. “We encourage people to go to the website and just want people to look at the evidence. That’s all we ever ask,” she says. “There still hasn’t been justice.”
In a press release announcing the mural dedication, organizers say they will be raising donations for “the purpose of taking Matt Kenny to the Police and Fire Commission in order to face the consequences of his actions on March 6, 2015.” The organizers also say that it will “also be a time to acknowledge the wonderful people and organizations that made this installation and event possible.”
Actor, author, entrepreneur, and professional public speaker Ajani Carr will be a featured speaker at the mural dedication tonight.
“Our guest speaker, Ajani, is a young man who actually knew Tony from those high school years,” Mathews says. “He’s in California now doing some amazing things. He’s coming back to speak. We will also have Tony’s aunt who will be performing some spoken word, too.”
Community members are encouraged to gather in the skate park area at McPike Park, 202 S. Ingersoll St. at 5 p.m. The mural dedication will happen at 5:20 p.m. followed by spoken-word poetry and a lantern send-off.
At 6:15 p.m., the group will walk to 1125 Williamson St., Robinson’s apartment where he was killed, and a moment of silence will be observed.
“We will be sending up lanterns and walking over to the house like we always do and then have a moment of silence on Williamson Street there,” Mathews says.
On the mural there is a quote from Tony Robinson: “Just watch. I’m going to change the world.”
“I really love that quote ‘I’m going to change the world.’ And he has,” Matthews says. “Since his death, several significant events happened related to MPD. There was an Ad Hoc committee that led to so many recommendations for changes in the Madison Police Department. The Civilian Oversight Board, the independent monitor and the CARES program were developed.”
The Madison Police Civilian Oversight Board was established in September 2020 and they in turn hired the first independent monitor. The CARES (Community Alternative Response Emergency Services) program that started in 2021 now has mental health professionals and paramedics responding to calls where someone is experiencing a mental health crisis.
As a result of Tony Robinson’s death, there were not only many changes to policing in Madison, but it also changed life for so many Madisonians … including Mathews herself.
“When that happened, it really changed me as a person,” Mathews says. “I never thought anything like that would happen in Madison.”
