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Milwaukee Marchers Speak Out Against Capitol Break-In

Emily Files
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WUWM
"Rally Against The Far Right" marchers walked from the Third Ward to Sen. Ron Johnson's Milwaukee office downtown.

Some Wisconsin residents are speaking out against the supporters of President Donald Trump who rioted at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. The extremists interrupted the certification of the presidential election. Five people died as a result of the chaos.

In Milwaukee Sunday, a group of about 50 people gathered for what they called a “rally against the far right.”

“We came out to this march today because like everyone else, we watched our Capitol being stormed by right-wing, white supremacists,” said marcher Kamila Ahmed. “And we don’t like that.”

Ahmed is part of a group called The People’s Revolution, which has been marching for police reform and other changes in the Milwaukee area. She says her group has been tear-gassed, shot at with rubber bullets, and arrested. Meanwhile, videos appear to show a passive or under-staffed police response to the Capitol stormers.

“What we’re seeing is racism. It’s alive, in the flesh,” Ahmed said. “Because these people were probably 75-80% white people, and because they weren’t viewed as much of a threat as Black and brown people, they were handled with more care.”

Credit Emily Files / WUWM
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WUWM
Marchers gathered in a parking lot near Summerfest grounds. The march was organized by groups including Democratic Socialists of America.

With chants of “What do we do? Stand up fight back!,” the crowd marched to the Milwaukee office of Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a staunch Trump ally.

“[Johnson] has been a big supporter of Donald Trump, and by extension white supremacy in the United States,” said march organizer Ian Gunther, with the Milwaukee chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “And I think that as Wisconsinites, we need to take a stand and tell him that he needs to resign.”

Johnson initially objected to certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, but changed his vote after the Capitol violence on Wednesday.

Some of the marchers were also unhappy with President-elect Joe Biden’s response to the Capitol attack. Biden tweeted that “the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not represent who we are.”

“That’s a joke to a lot of people of color,” said marcher Omar Flores, a member of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression. “We’ve always faced a lack of democracy, democracy being taken from us.”

Emily is WUWM's education reporter and a news editor.
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