MILWAUKEE— The excessive heat Wednesday didn’t stop hundreds of protesters from taking to the streets during the GOP presidential primary debates in Milwaukee.
Two organized protests took place in city Wednesday.
The “Unions for All” protest took place midday and focused on union members. There were hundreds of service workers and union members who said they wanted to use the platform of the GOP debate to have their voices heard.
“It’s working people that controls the vote,” SEIU Union member, Anthill Farrar said. “We need them to understand that we need them to support working people. That’s something we believe has been ignored specifically by the GOP.”
In the evening, a handful of different organizations gathered in Red Arrow Park to protest during the debate. The larger group is called “The March on the GOP Debate." It’s a collaboration of multiple groups who wanted to have their voices heard on a handful of topics including equal rights, abortion and racism.
“If we want real change out here, we have to find it for ourselves,” Christian Crocroft, one of the protesters, said. “We have to come together as working class people and oppressed people."
The group made its way through the streets of downtown Milwaukee during the debate; it called this specific protest the Coalition to March on the RNC.
One organizer said this protest was just a preview of what’s to come next year during the Republican National Convention. The 2024 convention is also set to take place in Milwaukee.
“We’re going to be treating it the exact same way,” Aurelia Ceja, Coalition to March on the RNC spokesperson, said. “We are going to be showing up with thousands when the RNC happens. Tonight is really our test as well: To come together and let them know, that we don’t stand for that here in Milwaukee.”
The protests remained peaceful throughout all of Wednesday.