Hundreds protest Elon Musk speaking event in Green Bay
Green Bay, WI – On Sunday, March 30, hundreds gathered in the bitter cold and rain outside of the KI Convention center to protest Elon Musk’s visit to campaign for Supreme Court Candidate Brad Schimel. Schimel, a reactionary Republican attorney general, has campaigned on reintroducing a 1849 law banning abortion statewide, repealing same sex marriage and enforcing Trump’s attacks on the working class.
Schimel’s campaign has garnered support from the Trump administration. Ahead of the April 1 Supreme Court election, Elon Musk has been offering $100 to people who vote, further offering $1 million prizes to “lucky winners” in the state of Wisconsin leading up to the election.
Musk is instrumental in the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers and unions.
The people of Green Bay showed out in force and numbers to denounce Musk. Multiple organizations, including Service Employees International Union, Working Families Power, Students for a Democratic Society and Democratic Socialists of America were in attendance.
The protest went on for hours, Chants such as “Nazis suck” and “Wisconsin is not for sale” echoed across Main Street in Green Bay. Despite the inclement weather and large presence of Musk and Schimel supporters, the residents of Green Bay stood resolute. Working people know that money for voting is not the same as their needs being met. Protesters carried signs reading, “$100 to vote, but no increase in minimum wage?”
This protest is the first of its kind in Green Bay in a long time. The large turnout was inspiring to many of the new activists in attendance and sent a powerful message that the people of Green Bay will not be bought out.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the people's movements have grown in Green Bay, with actions happening multiple times a week. The people of Green Bay will continue to stand up to fight the reactionary Republican agenda.