Milwaukee, WI – Reproductive rights supporters took to the streets, Saturday, November 9. Roughly 300 people gathered to hear speeches and speak out against the outrageous abortion restrictions in Wisconsin and across the U.S. 

Milwaukee, WI – 500 people took to the streets of downtown Milwaukee, November 6, to protest another Trump presidency that will surely launch an all-out assault on workers and oppressed people for the next four years. Rather than giving into despair, the people of Milwaukee, representing various progressive movements, showed they are ready to fight back against Trump’s racist and reactionary agenda.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Students for a Democratic Society University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Chapter.

The Students for a Democratic Society UWM chapter condemns the ongoing political repression against Robby Knapp, Patricia Fish, Kayla Paterson, and Audari Tamayo. Knapp is currently facing suspension after refusing to stop protesting for Palestine and has been hit with multiple disciplinary sanctions. Fish is now being hit with disciplinary sanctions from the Chapman Hall occupation in February. Patterson and Tamayo were unable to enroll in time for the Fall 2024 semester after bogus holds were placed on their school accounts. This was just part of the string of repression unleashed by the university in its attempt to intimidate members of SDS and the student movement at large for standing with Palestine.

Milwaukee, WI – Former President Trump returned to Milwaukee this past Friday, November 1, to speak at a rally at the Fiserv Forum, the same venue where he accepted the Republican presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention (RNC).

Milwaukee, WI - 700 pro-Palestine Wisconsinites gathered October 5 to honor the Palestinian resistance and condemn one year of Israel’s escalated genocide. The protest was led by the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine Janan Najeeb, co-chair and convener of the WCJP, kicked off the protest by affirming, “the resistance and the call for justice is not subsiding. It is growing.”

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, October 22, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) and numerous families of those impacted by police violence, lack of transparency, and by the conditions in the Milwaukee County Jail honored their loved ones in a panel and vigil for Stolen Lives Day at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, with around 100 people in attendance.

Milwaukee, WI – On the morning of October 14, 40 letter carriers, their families, other union members, and community supporters gathered outside the downtown center for the United States Postal Service (USPS). The rally was called for by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 2, and it was held in conjunction with many other actions by other branches of the union across the country.

Milwaukee, WI – On September 25, roughly 100 people gathered to demand an end to the U.S.-funded attacks on Lebanon and Palestine and an arms embargo on Israel. Protesters gathered at City Hall Square as a rally began at around 5 p.m. The rally, led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee and cosponsored by ten other local, national, and international organizations, had ten speakers, who connected the resistance in the Middle East to U.S. imperialism and the way it impacts us all.

After the initial gathering and speeches, the group marched and chanted down Kilbourne Avenue to Juneau Park. The target of the protest was the Raytheon board member George Oliver, who lives in a condominium tower across from the park. The march was met with enthusiasm, honks and shouts of “Free Palestine!” by onlookers. The entire event was recorded by WISN 12 News and followed by reporter Erika Finke.

Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 4, the UWM Students for a Democratic Society led a protest of 70 students endorsed by the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition. The student organizations rallied defiantly in the face of their wrongful suspensions in front of the library named for Israeli war criminal Golda Meir.

Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, September 2, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC) and other unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) hosted LaborFest, an annual celebration held in commemoration of Labor Day. Hundreds of workers and union supporters turned out for the occasion.

The first portion of the day’s events saw the traditional mass march featuring rank-and-file workers mobilized by unions spanning the spectrum of organized labor, from trades workers to letter carriers to communications workers and everything in between.

Milwaukee, WI – Nearly 200 people marched through the streets of downtown Milwaukee on the afternoon of August 17, demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine and denouncing Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for facilitating Israel’s crimes.

Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, July 31, political repression reached a new low at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as all five student organizations in the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition were suspended for alleged “threatening and antisemitic” remarks on social media. The students responded with a march on August 5.

The Popular University for Palestine Coalition includes the UW-Milwaukee chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Muslim Student Association (MSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Un-PAC and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). According to the UWM administration, these student groups were deemed a threat to safety on campus. In reality, however, the only threat they posed is to the U.S. war machine and the pro-Israel status quo.

Milwaukee, WI – On July 28, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) held their second annual protest of the Milwaukee Air & Water Show. Around 70 people gathered at Cathedral Square Park, less than half a mile from Bradford Beach where the show was being held, before marching through downtown Milwaukee to the doorsteps of the show.

Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, July 28, members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) joined community members for a vigil that was followed by a rally and march to honor the life of Sonya Massey and others victimized by police. Massey, 36, lived in Springfield, Illinois, and was murdered in her own home by police after her request for help. Her death has sparked national outcry against police crimes and a national call to action around the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. 

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, July 23, Vice President Kamala Harris made her first stop as a presidential candidate in Milwaukee, less than a week after the Republican National Convention. For four hours straight, members of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine (WCJP) chanted outside of Harris’ campaign rally.

Milwaukee, WI – As the Republican National Convention came to an end on Thursday, July 18, hundreds of law enforcement officers and dozens of media outlets circled a crowd gathered for a rally at Red Arrow Park demanding justice for D’Vontaye Mitchell and Samuel “Jah” Sharpe, Jr.

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, July 16, five police officers with the Columbus, Ohio Police Department shot and killed 43-year-old Samuel “Jah” Sharpe Jr. These police officers came to Milwaukee to provide security for the Republican National Convention (RNC), but the shooting took place near 14th and Vliet Streets, which is more than seven blocks away from the RNC security perimeter.

Alan Chavoya, outreach chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “We warned the representatives of the city, of the Milwaukee Police Department, over the past two years that they were exposing our city to this kind of violence with the 4500 out-of-town police officers coming in for the RNC.”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is ecstatic to announce that the Milwaukee Police Association has dropped their lawsuit in opposition to Standard Operating Procedure 575. The Milwaukee Alliance has been fighting for SOP 575 since Memorial Day Weekend of 2021. This SOP will force the Milwaukee Police Department to release footage, including body camera footage, of critical incidents to the victims’ next of kin within 48 hours and the public within fifteen days. This is a huge victory for the people of Milwaukee and the first step towards true transparency and accountability between police and the community. For the first time, Milwaukeeans will have a hard timeline on when they can expect answers about police crimes in our communities.

Milwaukee, WI – After two years of work, the Coalition to March on the RNC culminated its efforts with a 3500-person rally and march on the opening day of the 2024 Republican National Convention. The Coalition was truly national in character, composed of more than 120 organizations representing all manner of social movements. The principle rallying cry of the broad united front was to fight against the racist and reactionary Republican agenda.

“The most visible figurehead of the Republican Party right now is Donald Trump, but we want to be clear: we are marching on the Republicans’ entire agenda. Our speakers today represent a broad movement against the entire Republican platform,” said Omar Flores, one of the co-chairs of the Coalition. “We are marching on every Republican state slashing funding for DEI initiatives in education, every Republican governor putting up more razor wire to militarize the Southwest border, every Republican voting for right-to-work bills, and every Republican signing bombs they are sending to Gaza.”

Milwaukee, WI - After a protracted fight with authorities, the Coalition to March on the RNC came to agreement July 12 with city government on the route the protest will take on the opening day of the Republican National Convention.