MILWAUKEE (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Milwaukee on Monday to protest the Republican National Convention, putting into action a longstanding plan to hold rallies outside the venue despite the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The protests were peaceful, as the organizers had promised. Only two people were arrested.
A variety of organizations and activists gathered in a downtown park outside the security perimeter of the Fiserv Forum to listen to speakers ahead of a street march coordinated by the Coalition to March on the RNC. The coalition, made up largely of local groups, supports abortion and immigrant rights and pushes for an end to the war in Gaza.
The atmosphere was festive, with music blaring from speakers, a man playing a guitar, and vendors selling T-shirts and buttons supporting Republicans and Democrats. One protester wore an orange prison jumpsuit with a giant Trump cutout for a face. Activists carried signs reading “Stand with Palestine,” “We can no longer afford the rich,” and “Defend and expand immigrant rights.”
At one point, a group of protesters got into an argument with counter-protesters who condemned LGBTQ+, Muslim, Black Lives Matter and women’s rights.
Counterprotester Rich Penkoski of Stillwater, Oklahoma, yelled through a megaphone that women should go home and make sandwiches for their husbands. The protesters eventually moved away from the counterprotesters as police watched.
At noon, in temperatures approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit, protesters began marching around the arena’s security perimeter, chanting “Hey-hey, ho-ho, the Republicans must go” and “This is what democracy looks like.” Many carried Palestinian flags.
Protesters marched just a block from Fiserv Forum, past the edge of the arena’s security zone, before returning to the downtown park where they began. Milwaukee police estimated the crowd at 700 to 800 people.
The Philadelphia-based economic justice group Poor People’s Army marched later Monday.
Jill Stein, a longtime Green Party presidential candidate, addressed the group, calling for reduced military spending and greater investment in public education, public housing and health care. She did not mention the assassination attempt.
Cheri Honkala, 60, said she traveled to Milwaukee from one of Pennsylvania’s poorest counties to “send a clear message to all politicians” that people living below the poverty line “don’t survive.”
Honkala said she was nervous after the attempted assassination of Trump because she might clash with police officers and counter-protesters during her march with the Poor People’s Army. But she was not deterred, she said.
“The climate is definitely scary,” she said, “but you know what’s scarier? Nothing to say.”
According to Milwaukee police, two people were arrested at 9:30 p.m. Monday. One was charged with disturbing the peace after he intentionally disrupted protesters, according to police. The other person was arrested after he intentionally blocked a vehicle checkpoint, according to police.
On Monday evening, the streets of downtown Milwaukee were largely silent.
At one of the convention’s main entrances, a lone anti-Trump protester stood with a sign urging everyone entering the arena to “enjoy the clown show.”
Anthony Marlow, a retired garbage man, said he spent the entire day protesting the convention and at times argued with Trump supporters.
“I want them to know they are not welcome in this great city,” he said. Referring to Trump’s alleged denigration of Milwaukee a few weeks earlier, Marlow said Trump does not value Milwaukee.
The assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday night sparked widespread calls for improved security measures and raised questions about Trump’s safety in Milwaukee – he arrived in the city on Sunday – as well as that of other convention attendees.
Kimberly Cheatle, director of the US Secret Service, said on Monday that the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies had “reviewed and strengthened” the security plan for the convention and would continually adjust their measures as needed. She added that the Secret Service had also made changes to Trump’s security personnel. She did not provide further details.
A hefty police presence was maintained in the city, with officers from several jurisdictions providing security. Pentagon officials said 1,700 National Guard troops, mostly from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, were also on dynamic duty at the gathering. Milwaukee and federal officials have repeatedly said their priority is security, and they insist they have made concessions on free speech.
Many activists are using the experience from Milwaukee to prepare for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month. That event is expected to draw even larger crowds, and Chicago police are currently completing training on constitutional policing and preparing for possible mass arrests.
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Associated Press writers Kathleen Foody in Chicago and Lolita Baldor in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
