Milwaukee racial justice protest leaders were arrested in Indiana Wednesday night, booked on misdemeanors and released on their 750-mile foot march to Washington, D.C. The group aims to arrive to the nation’s capitol by Aug. 28 — the day Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speech.
Frank “Nitty” Sensabaugh and Tory Lowe are activists in Milwaukee’s racial justice movement marching with a group on foot to DC along with a supporting car caravan. The group was on a four-lane divided highway in Warsaw, Ind., Wednesday night. Lowe says they had been treated poorly by other drivers and battled racism.
“Since we’ve been here, all we’ve been called is n*****. People driving past, screamin' profanity. We just walkin' through!” Lowe says.
The group was stopped twice by state police who said they were backing up traffic. During the second interaction, an officer gave the group an ultimatum: get off the road and onto the shoulder immediately or be arrested.
Nitty called his lawyer to ask about the group’s rights, and police arrested him, Lowe and one other for disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. Lowe tried to intervene in Nitty’s arrest and also got arrested for resisting an officer.
All three men were booked and released.
Nitty says they’ll keep marching.
“There's nothing you can do to stop this revolution. Black people will get rights in this country, Black people will be treated equally. And everything that you do to try to stop us makes us stronger,” Nitty says.
Indiana State Police said in a statement they made multiple attempts to get the whole group on the shoulder and not doing so created a dangerous situation. It added that the local Indiana District Attorney’s Office will be reviewing whether to issue charges.
