1,500 protest killing by officer

Wisconsin teen impulsive, had attention disorder, file says

MADISON, Wis. -- An unarmed black man fatally shot by a white Wisconsin police officer suffered from attention-deficit disorder and tended to be an impulsive risk-taker, court documents show, and Monday about 1,500 people gathered at the state's Capitol to protest the killing.

The file connected to 19-year-old Tony Robinson's armed robbery conviction last year shows he was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder, anxiety and depression. The documents were contained in a report by a state Department of Corrections agent.

Madison police officer Matt Kenny shot Robinson late Friday while investigating a call that the man was jumping in and out of traffic and had assaulted someone. The officer heard a disturbance and forced his way into an apartment where Robinson had gone. Authorities said Kenny fired after Robinson assaulted him.

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval, who is white, has tried to strike a conciliatory tone with the city's black community, calling Robinson's death a tragedy and praying with Robinson's grandmother in her driveway hours after the shooting. On Monday, he wrote on his blog that he was sorry Robinson died.

"The police are part of this community -- and we share this sense of loss," Koval wrote.

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain clarified in an email that Koval was not acknowledging any wrongdoing by Kenny or the department.

The state Justice Department's Criminal Investigation Division is leading the probe into the shooting because of a new state law that requires outside agencies to investigate officer-involved shootings. A Justice Department spokesman did not respond to an email Monday seeking an update.

Preliminary autopsy results were not expected until midweek at the earliest.

About 1,500 people protested Monday in front of the state Capitol. Many of the protesters were high school students who skipped class to join the rally.

"I think the fact he was black did lead to an unfair shooting," said 19-year-old Sedgwick Smith, a student at Madison Area Technical College. "If he would have been white, he wouldn't have been shot. Period."

According to a criminal complaint last year, Robinson was among a group of five people involved in a home-invasion robbery in Madison in April 2014. Police said they were looking for marijuana and money.

Police captured Robinson as he fled the apartment. He told investigators he carried a BB-gun pistol with him during the robbery and stole a TV and an Xbox 360 from the apartment. Judge Josann Reynolds sentenced him to three years' probation in December.

The robbery case file includes a letter from his grandmother, Sharon Irwin, to the judge. In it, she asks for her grandson to be sentenced to probation, saying he was following his co-defendants' lead.

Robinson "is a great kid in between being a teen and a man," she wrote. "That is one of his issues. Impulsive. The other is being a follower."

His aunt, Loren Carter, wrote a note to the judge asking for mercy in sentencing. She said Robinson grew up poor and without his father but that he was kindhearted and intelligent.

Robinson's defense attorney, Michael Short, wrote to the judge that Robinson had taken special-education classes and had never before been in trouble with the law.

"He was an easy choice for the seasoned co-defendants to manipulate into participation," Short wrote. "He did not give any orders but just followed the instructions meted out by the other defendants."

Keith Wessel, a Madison family law attorney who said he was married to Robinson's grandmother for a time, wrote to Short in September and told him that he knew Robinson.

Wessel wrote that some branches of that family exposed Robinson to a "chaotic environment." He did not elaborate.

Wessel said Monday that he was shocked by the shooting. He said Robinson was a "teddy bear."

"I can't imagine Tony is going to fight a cop breaking into his house," Wessel said. "I just don't see that as likely. ... I really think we need to examine our police policies."

A Section on 03/10/2015

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