MILWAUKEE — Politicians and police officers vastly outnumbered protesters this week in downtown Milwaukee, where demonstrations outside the Republican National Convention have been passionate but infrequent.
By the final day of the convention, just one large-scale protest had been staged near Fiserv Forum, where the target of most demonstrators’ ire — former President Donald Trump — was slated to accept the GOP nomination Thursday night.
Groups were still planning to hold a rally for progressive causes Thursday night at one of several “First Amendment zones” designated by the city of Milwaukee.
But entering the final night of RNC programming, the biggest demonstration had taken place Monday, when hundreds of activists marched downtown to coincide with the convention’s launch.
That was a peaceful affair, according to both protesters and police, as were other, smaller free-speech expressions across the city that followed.
“Things are going pretty well, and I say that because we’ve been able to maintain safety,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said.
Nadine Seiler, who traveled from Waldorf, Maryland, to voice her displeasure with Trump all week, agreed Monday’s rally and march “went pretty smoothly.”
“We had the usual people, the anti-abortion people who come in and try to disrupt us. Everybody has their First Amendment right,” Seiler said. “As long as nobody’s using violence, I am totally for that.”
Two people were arrested in protest-related incidents that day, including a man taken into custody in front of Seiler as she spoke to a Sun-Times reporter at Red Arrow Park, which served as a main gathering point for perhaps a thousand protesters.
Nearly a dozen officers swiftly surrounded the man after he allegedly tried to knock over three protesters’ self-styled circus booth, which proclaimed “Elect clowns, expect a circus.” He was later ticketed and released.
Seiler complained that the officers, who used bicycles to block off the area before leading the man away in cuffs, were more forceful than necessary.
“They always do this. They’re always over-escalating,” she said.
Activists accused out-of-town police officers of doing just that outside the RNC security perimeter on Tuesday, flaring neighborhood tension after Columbus, Ohio, police officers fatally shot a man who allegedly lunged with a knife at another man.
More than a hundred residents and activists marched that night demanding justice for Samuel Sharpe, whom relatives say suffered from multiple sclerosis and didn’t pose a lethal threat to anyone as Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman indicated he did.
Sharpe’s killing brought protesters back downtown Thursday afternoon, marching through the streets and criticizing authorities for bringing hundreds of police officers from departments across the nation to support RNC security. About 75 Chicago police officers trekked north for the week.
Alan Chavoya of the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention and the Milwaukee Alliance against Racist and Political Repression said protesters proved themselves peaceful all week — and that police didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
“We are the ones that keep everyone peaceful. It’s the police that cause issues in our city, so they should do their job to keep the police accountable,” Chavoya said. “We’ll do our job, because we already know how to do our job. It’s just up to the police how they’re going to respond to us.”
Chicago police are hoping for peaceful scenes outside the United Center and McCormick Place when delegates descend on the city next month for the Democratic National Convention.
CPD Supt. Larry Snelling, counterterrorism Chief Duane DeVries and other city brass visited for an up-close preview of what they’ll be facing next month with the Democratic National Convention.
“It’s good to see it here as it’s laid out, because the fencing and a lot of the systems will be the same, they’ll just be in a different neighborhood,” DeVries told WTTW.
A bigger convention in a bigger city is widely expected to result in bigger protests in Chicago — but demonstrators’ causes will likely be similar.
The demonstrators who came to Milwaukee from across the country mostly were pushing liberal causes: abortion rights, police reform, racial justice, welcoming immigration policies and support for Palestinians. The vast majority stood in staunch opposition to Trump.
“If his agenda is implemented, America as we know it is going down, so I’m going to do everything in my power to come over here and bring awareness,” said Seiler, the Maryland activist.
As of Thursday afternoon, the only other arrest related to RNC protests involved a woman who blocked traffic near the arena. She was ticketed and released Monday.