Republican National Convention, Day 1: Protests and Proclamations

MILWAUKEE – While former U.S. President Donald J. Trump received the overwhelming endorsement of the Republican National Committee in the official roll call of the states and his election as vice president, Republican Senator JD Vance (Ohio) was unanimously nominated by the party; hundreds of protesters filled Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee.

The protest took place just two miles from the Fiserv Forum, where the Republican National Convention began the first day of a four-day celebration of Republican policies and ideals. Hosted by the Coalition to March on the RNC, more than 100 organizations have signed up to attend and speak at the rally, according to coalition leaders.

Slogans such as “Free, free Palestine” and “From Palestine to Mexico, all walls must come down” were heard during the anti-Trump and anti-establishment rally. According to several speakers, the organizations plan to gather again during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America spokesman Dominick Williams took a moment to address Trump’s comments that Milwaukee is a “terrible city,” saying, “He called it a terrible city, but many of our ancestors called it the good country. We believe in people power.”

In addition to Williams and the Democratic Socialists of America, representatives from the New Orleans Students for Democratic Society, the Youth Democratic Socialists of America, the Homegrown Organizing Committee, Denver Anti-War Action, the American Party of Labor — one of several pro-union organizations in Milwaukee on Monday — the Milwaukee League of Anarchists, the Detroit Anti-War Committee — a student organization at Wayne State University — the Freedom Socialists Party and the Green Party of Greater Milwaukee spoke.

Both pro-Trump supporters and opponents of Black Lives Matter were in the park during the rally. One man who was not a member of either group but was pro-Trump was Billy Pollard of Albany, Georgia, who was selling Trump bumper stickers for a dollar across from the park. Pollard, 62, had driven from Georgia to Milwaukee to support the former president. He said he voted for Trump twice and plans to do so again in November.

“Donald Trump brings me here because he’s a great man who keeps his word,” said Pollard, wearing one of his Trump bumper stickers on the front of his navy blue T-shirt, when asked why he was in Milwaukee on Monday. “Promises made, promises kept. He gets things done and he gets them done fast.”

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There was also a protest march outside the Fiserv Arena.

Today it was officially announced that Robert Kennedy F. Kennedy Jr. and Trump will receive increased protection from the US Secret Service in the future, as a result of the events that occurred on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.

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