A march for Tony Robinson that began on Williamson Street ended in tension during a mayoral forum Thursday. The protesters filled the Barrymore Theatre, which hosted the debate between Mayor Paul Soglin and Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, with angry disruptions, often interrupting the candidates’ answers.
Protesters started their procession at the BP gas station across the street from the apartment where Robinson was shot and walked approximately one mile to the Barrymore, chanting “black lives matter,” “all power to the people,” and “this is what democracy sounds like,”—chants that have echoed on the streets of Madison during similar demonstrations over the past weeks.
“We know that the mayor is a piece of this racist institution … and we want to talk to him,” Young, Gifted and Black organizer Alix Shabazz said at the start of the protest. “What are you going to do to make sure justice happens for Tony Robinson? What are you going to do to end the racial disparity?”
In the minutes leading up to the candidates beginning the forum, hosted and broadcasted by the Isthmus and WORT, the demonstrators unfurled the Black Lives Matter banner before other members of the audience, which included Tony Robinson’s grandmother, Sharon Irwin.
“We are here simply to demonstrate our rights to civil disobedience,” YGB organizer Brandi Grayson said. “We are here to challenge the candidates … in how they are going to respond to what’s happening in our community and how are they going to deal with the anxiety, frustration and distrust as a result of the killing of one of our children.”
YGB organizer Eric Upchurch said city officials have not yet demonstrated their accountability for combating racial injustices in Madison.
“Our presence is strong. They have no choice but to address us,” Upchurch said. “But will they be accountable? … Right now what we’ve seen, [political officials and candidates] have accommodated us in the moment. But when it comes time for real results, they’ve been missing in action.”
Once the forum began, protesters confronted the candidates. Many were not satisfied with their statements, booing Soglin for one of his answers regarding why police violence happens and challenging Resnick for his response in favor of a proposed police body camera study.
“Elected leaders need to do more for their community,” Resnick said to crowd cheers. “And regardless of your thoughts of what occurred on that night, what we need to do is have a true conversation about the arrest disparities in our community … We have a responsibility to have the strongest protocols anywhere in the country right here in Madison, Wisconsin [for the Madison Police Department].”
Soglin defended his tenure, saying that he brought action to the table over rhetoric.
“The city needs to make a choice as to whether it wants to engage in leadership that talks about talking, or actually goes out and listens and reforms,” Soglin said in his rebuttal to Resnick, citing his leadership in continuous racial disparity studies preceding Robinson’s death. “I didn’t wait four years for this to happen.”
Resnick later criticized Soglin for taking too long to make the most recent racial disparity studies conducted by the city readily available to the public.
“We’re talking about numbers [from 2013] that are locked up in a PDF file [and] we haven’t seen the 2014 numbers,” Resnick said. “That’s not what occurs in most cities. If we’re going to be accountable to the public, we need to have a transparent system in place.”
After Resnick’s comment, the debate ended chaotically, with moderator Renée Lauber unable to speak clearly over the chanting crowd.
For former Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, who was previously a candidate in the mayoral race, the disruptions took too much away and prevented undecided voters from being able to make a decision. She cited that many non-protesters in the audience instead chose to leave.
“I would have liked to have heard more from the candidates,” Maniaci said. “Sometimes it can be messy, but we have to find a way of having these conversations in a way that do not have people walking out. And that’s what happened tonight.”
