MILWAUKEE — Protesters gathered at Red Arrow Park Monday and marched near the Republican National Convention (RNC) security zone to voice opposition to former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party platform.
Organizers from local progressive groups including the Coalition to March on the RNC, the organization who planned the protest, the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network spoke before the march.
Approximately 700 to 800 protesters did two loops of the march path with the goal of being in “sight and sound” of Fiserv Forum, the main floor of the convention. The Coalition to March on the RNC initially anticipated 5,000 people would attend.
The City of Milwaukee and the Coalition to March on the RNC agreed on the path Friday in a handshake agreement.
Other speakers included Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, who was shot in 2020 by a police officer in Kenosha, and Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera.
Omar Flores, co-chair of the Coalition to March on the RNC, said at a press conference Monday the goal of the march was to “fight the racist and reactionary Republican agenda.”
Kobi Guillory, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, encouraged protestors to stand in solidarity with oppressed groups.
“This fight is bigger than the ballot box. It is bigger than any event,” Guillory said. “We're going to continue to show up in the streets and say, no more oppression, no more repression, no more exploitation.”
Protesters differ on strategy
While all the protesters arrived in Milwaukee in unison against the Republican platform, many had different ideas and solutions to prevent a GOP victory in November.
Victoria Hinkley, Students for a Democratic Society organizer, criticized Republican reproductive policies and said the policies threaten people’s lives. Her remedy is to mobilize people against the “reactionary agenda” Republicans tout.
“We refuse to accept these continued attacks and we refuse to take another step back for reproductive rights,” Hinkley said.
Many, such as Pam Fendt, called on more broad ideological opposition to the Republican platform. Fendt, the Milwaukee president of the AFL-CIO , told The Daily Cardinal she was protesting the GOP’s labor policies and Project 2025, a conservative think-tank’s controversial presidential transition plan.
Civil rights activist Frank Chapman said “we must stand up, get out and vote to encourage people to not send [Trump] back… nobody deserves like that to be our president.”
And many protesters called on attendees to vote in November with a handful of protesters wearing Biden-Harris gear.
But others, including Leo Pargo from THE REVCOM CORPS for the Emancipation of Humanity, called for a more dramatic political shift in the country.
“We are calling on people to not participate” in the election, Pargo said. “We are saying no fascist Trump, no genocide Joe. The whole damn system has to go … we're out here as part of revolution summer.”
Milwaukee resident Tony Srok, who held a sign that read “lock him up,” told the Cardinal he was there to protest the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
“If you can't substantiate your allegations that [the election] was stolen, I think you step down and accept it,” Srok said. “Donald Trump didn’t do that, and he needs to be held accountable for that.”
Counter-protesters stage limited opposition
About four counter-protesters gathered on one corner of the park holding anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ and pro-religion signs. They wore t-shirts that read “God hates Black Lives Matter” and “Satan is the king of all the children of pride.”
Another anti-abortion group stood at the convention entrance and chanted “abortion is murder, abortion is oppression” at the marching protesters, who responded with “pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if people die.”
Still, the protestors chanted phrases including “get up, get down, we don’t want Trump in this town” and “the people united will never be defeated.”
The RNC is set to take place July 15 through July 18 in Milwaukee. The Coalition to March on the RNC said it has no plans to march for the remainder of the convention but will return to rally in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.
Marin Rosen is the city news editor for The Daily Cardinal and a second-year journalism student. Throughout her time at the Cardinal, she's written articles for city and state news. She is an intern at Channel 3000 News and runs the Badger Beat on Instagram and TikTok. Follow her on Twitter at @marin_rosen
Noe Goldhaber is the college news editor and former copy chief for The Daily Cardinal. She is a Statistics and Journalism major and has specialized on a wide range of campus topics including protests, campus labor, student housing, free speech and campus administration. She has done data analysis and visualization for the Cardinal on a number of stories. Follow her on Twitter at @noegoldhaber.
