The largest crowd of the week gathered at Red Arrow Park on Thursday evening for an event to protest the Democratic National Convention and support the Black Lives Matters movement.
Hundreds of masked individuals met in the downtown Milwaukee park where Dontre Hamilton was shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014.
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The event, led by members of the Coalition to March on the DNC, began with chants of Jonathon Tubby, Joel Acevedo and the names of others killed by police. Family members of Wisconsinites killed by police officers eventually took the stage.
Hamilton’s mother, Maria, told the crowd they “are not going to stop marching in the streets” until the Trump administration “is over.”
Tracy Cole, the mother of Alvin Cole, shared the story of her son’s death, detailing how Wauwatosa police at the time were not cooperative with her. Cole, 17, was shot by an officer outside Mayfair mall in Wauwatosa in February after mall security called police to report a disturbance.
More: 15 seconds. 5 shots. Here's a timeline on how a fatal shooting in February set off a summer of protests and unrest in Wauwatosa.
Cole’s sister said, “If you want to see change ... vote for Joe Biden.”
A brief confrontation between protesters calling to defund the police and anti-abortion protesters quickly subsided. A tense moment between protesters and police on horseback and bicycles also dissolved after a few minutes.
After the rally, the crowd marched peacefully past the vacant lot next to Fiserv Forum, where the DNC was originally to be held, to the Milwaukee Police Administration building where a line of officers watched them walk by. The group ended up outside the security area of the Wisconsin Center.
They carried signs that said "Stop Evictions Now," "Unity," "Abolish Police" and "I'm only 8 and I know this is wrong." A small group of people dressed as Grim Reapers pulled a coffin filled with inflatable globes and a sign that said, "Respect Your Mother."
As they walked, the group chanted, “We’re ready for change. We’re coming for change.”
Using a microphone to rally protesters, Maria Hamilton said police brutality isn’t about race, it’s something that’s embedded in policing culture. Because of that, she doesn’t stand with any political party anymore.
“Democrats, what have they done for us? Why is Milwaukee the worst place to live?” Hamilton asked, adding that she’s not sure who she will vote for in November.
“I don’t trust the system. I don’t trust the rhetoric,” Hamilton said. “It’s not going to bring Dontre back, but I’m definitely going to vote because it’s my right.”
And while policy brutality seemed to be the focal point of the night, the group of progressives expressed frustration over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, immigration and mass incarceration.
Before the event at Red Arrow Park, what was supposed to be a rally of local activists advocating for protections for incarcerated populations turned into a full-fledged protest of the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility on Thursday afternoon.
The slogan of the march: “No one deserves to die in prison.”
Starting at Cathedral Square Park, criminal justice reform advocates gathered to demand change from Wisconsin legislators to stop crowding in prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lead organizer and Minister Caliph Muab-El said the two dozen people marching were representing those “who are most vulnerable.”
And he said the Democratic National Committee needs to hear their voices.
“We want to let it be known that these police in our communities, with the biggest budget in the state, are not serving the people,” Muab-El said. “They are doing everything in their power to make sure they dismantle our communities.”
When thousands of delegates, national media and others were told to stay home and not come to Milwaukee, so, too, apparently did protesters.
Protesters who came to Milwaukee for the DNC to make their voices heard had few listening to them during the first three days aside from a handful of journalists and folks bicycling to work or walking their dogs.
On the first day of the DNC a handful of protesters in bright yellow vests calling themselves #BernieOrVest marched from Red Arrow Park to the Wisconsin Center, setting up on Wells Street next to the fencing manned by police.
On Wednesday a group from Bikers for Trump roared into Milwaukee, parking their motorcycles at the intersection of West Wisconsin and James Lovell avenues for a short time.
Journal Sentinel reporter Lawrence Andrea contributed to this report.
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Rally at Red Arrow Park draws crowd of protesters on DNC's final day - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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