MILWAUKEE (AP) — Guns will be legal within a few blocks of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next month, and protesters will be given two outdoor stages, one within sight of the venue, according to a security plan released by law enforcement on Friday.
Protesters resisted, arguing that the plan’s protest zones were so far from the Fiserv Forum that they would not be seen or heard.
The plan calls for two perimeters that extend several blocks around the arena. Vehicles must pass through checkpoints to get between the two boundaries. Pedestrians are allowed to move freely in this area without being checked, but only convention attendees are allowed in the inner perimeter.
No weapons of any kind are allowed within the inner restricted area, but open or concealed carrying of weapons is permitted under state law. Wisconsin law prohibits only machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and silencers.
“It’s about behavior,” said Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman. “So understand that there’s going to be a certain level of surveillance and control. That’s the right you want to exercise. Just don’t do anything that could be viewed as a threat or harm to the public.”
Guns aren’t the only issue on city officials’ minds as they grapple with how to handle the tens of thousands of people downtown during the convention, scheduled for July 15-18. More than 100 organizations have applied so far to demonstrate at the convention, said Nick DeSiato, Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s chief of staff, during a news conference.
The Coalition to March on the RNC, a group of local and national organizations including the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, the immigrant advocacy group Voces de La Frontera and the American Party of Labor, has planned a protest march for the first day of the convention.
The coalition claims it has been trying to get a permit for the parade since April 2023, but the city government has still not granted it. The city has also delayed approving a parade route, the coalition claims, raising fears that the city will not allow protesters within sight of the arena.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court on June 5 on behalf of the coalition, alleging that the delay in opening a route amounts to a denial and thus violates the coalition’s right to free speech.
The ACLU has asked U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig to issue a fleeting restraining order forcing the city to establish a route within sight and hearing of the arena and to promptly process the coalition’s permit applications. Ludwig has scheduled a scheduling conference for the case on Monday.
The security plan released by authorities on Friday calls for a parade route just along the southern edge of the outer perimeter, about five blocks from the arena. There will be a stage for speakers within the route.
Asked if he thought the coalition was joyful with the route, DeSiato said it ran along the inner perimeter fence and that was the closest authorities could get, taking into account exits and access for emergency vehicles. He said determining the route was a “very complicated math problem.”
The plan also includes a stage for protest speakers on the northern edge of the site, about a block from the Fiserv Forum.
DeSiato said the city will provide sound for speakers on both stages, but speaking time will be restricted to 20 minutes per speaker to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak.
ACLU attorney Tim Muth said in a statement that the organization was “surprised and disappointed” by the sheer size of the inner perimeter. The immense radius makes it all the more critical that the city allow free speech and assembly, he said, and vowed to continue the lawsuit.
“We hope for a quick decision that confirms the coalition’s plan for a march within sight and hearing of the Fiserv Forum,” he said.
Omar Flores, one of the coalition’s co-chairs, told reporters at a press conference later Monday that the demonstration zones were unacceptable and accused city leaders of turning Milwaukee into a playground for Republicans.
He said the coalition protesters wanted to be within sight and hearing of the Fiserv Forum’s front doors and that they would follow their own parade route.
