Anti-Republican Group Takes Over Downtown Streets

The Coalition to March on the RNC march. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Women’s rights, a free Palestine, defeating the Republican agenda, immigrant rights, the end of war and LGBTQ+ protections.

The Coalition to March on the RNC offered messages on all those topics and more as it snaked through downtown Milwaukee Monday afternoon.

The coalition, formed by more than 100 groups nationwide, spent more than a year preparing for the march. Its efforts included suing the City of Milwaukee for a permit to march its own route near Fiserv Forum and developing a team of medics and organizers to support the disparate groups.

Co-chair Blake Jones said the primary mission Monday was to “show the Republicans that their hateful and racist agenda is not welcome here.”

In the months leading up to the march, co-chair Omar Flores stressed the group would hold a “family friendly” and peaceful march. On Monday, it appeared they delivered on that promise. Flores, in an interview, estimated 3,000 people attended, but added, “maybe I’m being optimistic.”

The group was big, but the large contingent of international media members and police officers circling through the area made it tough to precisely measure the numbers.

Starting at Red Arrow Park shortly after noon, the group followed a figure-eight-shaped route twice into Westown, the site of the convention, and got within a block of Fiserv Forum.

“Fiserv, Fiserv, here we come” was the group’s chant as it marched over the Juneau Avenue bridge.

Spectators standing in one place could quickly feel like they were at 10 different marches. While those in front held to largely unifying themes, successive waves of marchers, with their banners and signs, promoted their own messages.

“We managed to get in front of Fiserv Forum with no issues. There were a lot of counterprotesters that wanted us to take the bait and we didn’t,” said Flores in an interview shortly after police escorted an individual wearing a Make America Great Again hat from the group.

Local grassroots organizers and a handful of elected officials were joined by individuals from as far away as Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.

The coalition’s five formal points were to “fight the racist and reaction agenda of the Republican Party;” defend women’s LBGTQ and reproductive rights; defend and expand immigrant rights; peace, justice and equity for all; and stand with Palestine.

The event began at 10 a.m. with a press conference, followed by a rally at 11 a.m. The march stepped off just after noon.

“It’s been really good energy,” Jones told Urban Milwaukee as speakers rallied the crowd behind her. “We’ve seen organizers and people and communities from all over that are here today to show Republicans that we don’t agree with them. They shouldn’t be here and we will not let it stand.”

In recent days, the group clashed with the City of Milwaukee over its ability to march inside the soft security perimeter and within view of the convention being held at Fiserv Forum. The two parties came to an agreement on July 12 on a modified route, though a formal permit was never issued.

“It should be really great, we are within sight and sound, so we pretty much got everything we wanted by applying political pressure,” said Jones before the march began. Assistant city attorney Adam Stephens was with the group the whole way, and City Attorney Evan Goyke was spotted at Red Arrow Park before the march began.

Refrains such as “stand up, fight back” and “hand off trans youth” rang out as volunteers distributed water bottles to keep attendees hydrated in the 86-degree weather.

Speakers at the start of the march included Flores, Hatem Abudayyeh, Esther Cabrera, Lo Cross, Aurelia Ceja, Frank Chapman, Alan Chavoya, Kobi Guillory, Victoria Hinckley, Danaka Katovich, Carly Klein, Carlos Montes, Janan Najeeb, Rania Salem and Cody Urban.

Spotted in the crowd were State Rep. Ryan Clancy, Office of Community Wellness and Safety head Ashanti Hamilton, Islamic Society of Milwaukee executive director Othman Atta, Voces de la Frontera head Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Ald. Peter Burgelis and organizer Jarrett English.

“We will never defeat fascism with a bullet. The way we defeat fascism is this — is all of us coming together in creative, powerful protests. Coming together, taking back our streets and letting them know that their values are not our values,” said Clancy.

Klein, of Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, was happy to see the coalition that formed.

“Any event like this when we have organizers coming from across the country, it’s really just so inspiring because in Milwaukee we see only the work that we’re doing, but then when we see the power of all these different people coming together and we see all these people fighting against the great evils in our country, it’s just very inspiring,” said Klein in an interview. “We’re out here to show our support for access to bodily autonomy, access to services. But we’re also, when we think about the line of reproductive justice, that is the right to have children, the right to not have children and to be able to parent those children in sustainable communities. And the Republican agenda consistently attacks the ability to have sustainable communities for all.”

Groups participating in the march included the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, CODEPINK, Sierra Club, American Party of Labor, Freedom Socialist Party, Milwaukee Anti-war Committee, Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America.

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