Memorial Portrait Poster of Brandon Robinson, killed by Cleveland police on January 18, 2004
“Brandon and his friend were a sitting in the car parked on E. 152nd off Kinsman in the dead of winter. They had a little TV in the car they were watching, and suddenly the police come up on them. His buddy that was driving just stayed in the car. He got out and ran for whatever reason. He ran. The police chased after him. Not that far, he knelt down with his hands up and they blew him away. Across the street was an older woman. She saw the whole thing and they would never talk to her. The police and the detective did not want to talk to her because she said she knew exactly what happened. Put his hands up, saying, “OK I’m done”. Just shot in the head. It reminded me of that famous picture around the Vietnam War where they shoot the guy right in the head. He was knelt down on the streets of Saigon and they just shot the guy. Brandon was young. I don’t know if he was even 21.”–Bill Swain