The largely scaled-back Democratic National Convention begins in Milwaukee on Monday, against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
A reduced in-person version of the gathering will be held at the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee, with city and state leaders addressing the convention from the Wisconsin Center each night. Other than that, it will be a mostly virtual event after presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden and other speakers canceled their travel plans.
However, that hasn’t deterred protesters. Several groups say they’ll be in Milwaukee to march for various causes. One operation that plans to hold a rally and demonstration is the Coalition to March on the DNC. Organizer Ryan Hamann says he’s disappointed that Biden won’t be here in person, but the group will march in Milwaukee anyway on Aug. 20. That's the night Biden accepts the nomination from his home state, Delaware.
"The reason why we’re still going to be doing something, even though Biden and the Democrats have basically abandoned Milwaukee and have decided to stay home, is that the issues that we’re marching for, specifically the issue of police crimes, these things aren’t going away," Hamann says.
