Crowds of protesters gathered outside the Republican National Convention’s security perimeter for a March on the RNC Monday morning, the convention’s first day. Former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination on Saturday did not impact plans for the march, according to event organizers.
An estimated over 1,000 people from states across the country — including Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Florida and Wisconsin — came to protest the GOP’s agenda, particularly presidential front-runner Trump.
The march took protesters up and down the western edge of the RNC perimeter at roughly two miles, crossing the Milwaukee River twice.
“We’re within [the RNC’s] sight and sound,” Coalition to March on the RNC Co-Chair Omar Flores said.
The Coalition had been organizing the march since Milwaukee was chosen as the RNC venue in 2022, according to Flores. The Coalition spent much of that time in court with the city of Milwaukee debating what route the protest was allowed to take.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the city in early June, claiming that restricting the protest route is a violation of the First Amendment.
A federal judge ruled on July 8 to bar the Coalition’s route from crossing the U.S. Secret Service’s security perimeter, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.. The Coalition announced a final route complying with this demand the following day.
Before marchers began the contested route, speakers from several of the more than 120 organizations represented at the event took the stage at Red Arrow Park. The groups’ goals aligned with the march’s 12 points of unity, which included defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people, women, immigrants and standing with Palestine.
Victoria Hinckley, a student organizer with Students for a Democratic Society in Tampa at the University of South Florida, stressed the strength of students’ voices regarding the upcoming election. She condemned the GOP’s stance on reproductive issues, which have been restricted since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“That ain’t right,” Hinckley said.
Voces de la Frontera Executive Director Christine Neumann-Oritz told the story of the “Day without Latinx” strikeheld in 2017, which called on the resignation of former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.after he requested to participate in the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) program. Neumann-Oritz believes Trump and the GOP are promoting a harmful culture toward Hispanic people in the U.S.
Pro-Palestinian groups from communities across the country, including Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Mich. and New Orleans, La., were present. U.S. Palestinian Community Network Co-Founder and Chair Hatem Abudayyeh criticized the GOP’s steadfast support of Israel throughout the ongoing war in Gaza.
“This is the primary issue in the world today. This is our generation’s Vietnam War,” Abudayyeh said.
This work will not end with the conclusion of the RNC on Thursday, according to Flores. The Coalition to March on the DNC will protest the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August
“Democrats have only been the opposition in words, so we plan to be the opposition in action,” Flores said.
