UW Students Hold ‘Die-In’ To Protest Police Shootings

More than 500 University of Wisconsin-Madison students marched into the undergraduate library on Sunday night and held a silent “die-in” to raise awareness about the recent incidents around the country of police officers shooting young black men.

The protest began on Bascom Hill in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln. City police stopped traffic for the marchers as they marched to the library, where hundreds of other students were studying for final exams.

Once inside, protesters turned silent and lay down on the floor holding signs reading, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

Protest organizer Deshawn McKinney is a sophomore from Milwaukee.

“We want everybody to know that there’s this dichotomy in our heads. We can’t just focus on finals as I wake up every day and my life is invalidated or might be murdered in the street just for the way I look,” he said. “We are aware of finals too but that doesn’t separate us from our humanity.”

A black Madison police officer shook hands with McKinney when the die-in ended thanking him for peacefully raising an issue that he said affects his children, too.