Hundreds mourn US man killed by police

Hundreds of Americans have attended the funeral of an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer in the capital of the US state of Wisconsin.

Nineteen-year-old Tony Robinson was shot dead by 45-year-old force veteran Matt Kenny in an apartment in Madison on March 6. According to a preliminary autopsy, Robinson was shot in his head, torso and right arm.

His death was the latest in a string of police shootings of unarmed black and Latino people sparking mass protests across the United States.

Around 1,600 people packed a Madison-area high school field house on Saturday to remember Robinson, also known as Terrell. The crowed spilled into a secondary gym where a screen was showing the funeral service.

“It’s up to us to support Terrell’s vision of immortality … through our commitment to ensure that another senseless and violent murder like this doesn’t happen,” said Rev. David Hart leading the memorial.

Lorien Carter, Robinson’s aunt, read a poem she wrote for the funeral. “He is our own martyr, who dwells forever in our lives.”

The mourners called the shooting an overreaction by police. “What I personally don’t understand is why they have to resort to shooting first,” said Johanna Valdez.

The funeral was attended by Robinson’s friends and family as well as residents from around Wisconsin. In addition, political leaders including Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Mark Pocan were at the funeral to pay their respects.

Some were wearing T-shirts saying “Black Lives Matter,” the motto of a protest movement which began after the fatal police shooting of African American teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson in August.