Milwaukee holds “Peace Parade” to protest local Air & Water Show
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, July 26, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held a protest near the Milwaukee lakefront against the Milwaukee Air & Water Show. Every year, the Air & Water Show trots out the same models of U.S. Air Force planes used to carry out the U.S.’s illegal and unpopular wars. Though marketed as a “family-friendly” event, it is filled with military propaganda. Military recruiter booths line the grounds each year as fighter jets tear through the sky.
This was MAC’s fourth time protesting the Air & Water Show, but the first iteration of the “Peace Parade,” featuring handmade puppets of U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.
Over 30 attendees gathered at the North Point Water Tower at noon as the Air & Water Show was set to begin. A big banner reading “War is not family friendly! U.S. military out of Milwaukee!” was unfurled, while other people in the crowd held signs reading “I won’t glorify war” and “No war on Iran.” They flew Venezuelan, Palestinian, and other flags of nations targeted by the U.S. war machine. The puppets of Trump and Biden featured prominently, with large heads and hands dripping with blood.
The protesters walked along the sidewalk, chanting “Air Show, Air Show, you can’t hide, you’re promoting genocide!” as they followed the busy street of North Avenue, where many cars passed by and honked their support.
MAC member Sara Kraco told the crowd, “How many of us are drowning in student debt? Medical debt? How many of us had to decide between groceries and medicine? How dare our government charge us so much for life-saving medications such as inhalers or insulin, and turn around and burn up our tax dollars by flying these warplanes around us?” Kraco said, the crowd yelling “Shame!” in response.
Kraco continued, “We forget too, as we sit here comfortably on the lakefront in awe of the maneuvers and speed, that they’re just that, warplanes. Used in countries worldwide such as Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine, and now Iran. These planes regularly deploy drone strikes and drop bombs on civilians, always under the guise of fighting terror – but we know the United States military is the real terrorist. Regularly committing war crimes as hospitals, schools, universities, water systems, bridges, public transportation, power plants and homes are indiscriminately targeted. Beautiful ecosystems, cultures older than ours, destroyed without care.”
The people in Milwaukee and elsewhere around the world are linked, and so long as the people do not see peace, the Air & Water Show will not either.