Supervisors Withdraw Sade Robinson Memorial
Supervisors pull support on behalf of family after racist messages and abuse.

Warnimont Golf Course sign. Photo taken Jan. 8, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.
A well-intentioned plan for a memorial to Sade Robinson, who was murdered in 2024, was derailed by a deluge of nasty, racist messages sent to Milwaukee County Supervisors and aimed at her family.
Sup. Juan Miguel Martinez sponsored a resolution that would have funded the creation of a memorial in Warnimont Park for Robinson and to bring awareness to gender-based violence.
The ghastly details of her death attracted national attention. Robinson was allegedly killed by Maxwell Anderson, who is charged with her murder, in April 2024. Robinson was dismembered and some of her remains were discovered in Warnimont Park.
At a meeting of the county board’s Committee on Parks and Culture Tuesday, Martinez announced that he did not want to continue with the resolution. The committee voted unanimously to lay the item over, effectively holding it in committee until is taken up again, or the annual legislative cycle ends.
“I’ve been in constant communication with the mother of Sade Robinson, and we have discussed this over and over, and we have all agreed that it would be best to withdraw the resolution,” he said.
After media reported on the legislation, supervisors and the family were on the receiving end of racist abuse, according to members of the committee.
“I just want to say shame on people for treating a grieving mother this way and making it a race thing and treating her as subhuman when it’s absolutely unnecessary and absolutely unethical and it shows the most disgusting and detestable parts of our society,” Martinez said.
Martinez explained that the memorial was his idea, and that he wanted to help the mother with her wish to see a memorial to her daughter. Maybe seeking taxpayer funding for the memorial was not the right idea, he said, adding that her family and many others who supported the idea are taxpayers, as well.
“It is most unfortunate that we’re at this moment in our country’s history where, once again, we feel very comfortable being overt with our prejudices, with our racism and with just plain evil, hateful thoughts,” said Sup. Felesia Martin.
Milwaukee County Parks Director Guy Smith said his team would respect Robinson’s family and their wish for privacy, adding that Martinez’ resolution came from “a positive place and very good intention.”
“I believe we were talking about a bench,” said Sup. Anne O’Connor. “And so the public reaction was so disproportionate to what this really would have been. So it’s incredibly unfortunate. It is a reflection of the darker element of humanity.”
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Hate, racism, bigotry and vile anonymous social media posts win again.
I cannot prove this, but I would be willing to bet every cent I have that all of this crap originated from people that support Frump. He is the figurehead of all of this horrible behavior that seems to be overtaking this country. How broken must people like this be that they feel a need to hammer away at the family in their time of grief and horrible loss, especially given the circumstances of the crime???
If Sade Robinson had been a white woman, Frump would have issued an executive order to build a landmark to her by now. Instead, the top-down driven racism, misogyny, homophobia and xenophobia run rampant. His BS gets excused as being “non-presidential” and as a result his brain-dead supporters see a green light for all of their vitriol. This will continue until there are real consequences for publicizing hate speech.
The supervisors know the origins of the messages that have come directly to them. I say publish their names, email addresses, home addresses and/or phone numbers and allow them to experience first-hand what it might feel like to be bombarded by the sentiments of people that see them for who they really are, as well as how small and insignificant they truly are.
Fear, hatred, and anxiety fomented by HWSNBN (he who shall not be named) to rural Euro-American working poor, as well as all Euro-American working poor, for the sole purpose of keeping the working poor to unite against him. “Divide and Conquer” is a strategy that has been used over and over to maintain the oppression of all working poor in this country. Already the executive orders HWSNBN signed will hurt the rural working poor the hardest. His tariff wars will harm farmers who sell their products to Canada, Mexico, and China. Jobs created to repair failing infrastructure would vanish further harming the rural economy. These tariffs will also cause higher grocery prices, again the heaviest burden falling on rural working poor.
The problem, as long as anxious, rural Euro-Americans are fed fear and hatred they are unable to see how their anxiety, fear, and hatred are the tools of their own oppression.
I wonder if a memorial for ALL OF OUR CITIZENS lost to violence would be a good. There are many families…too many…who have suffered the loss of loved ones. I worry that recognizing one victim also recognizes the perpetrator. No one wants that. What happened to Sade is so heartbreaking, sickening. I wish deep and meaningful healing for the family.
Blame serves no one. All it does is preserve anger when it is thrown out at a community.
There should be a weekly report – of the total number of people shot or assaulted in Milwaukee. The report could include the age and sex of those attacked/shot.
Need increased awareness of the problem.
I don’t think that the average person understands what is happening.