Protesters march in Milwaukee as Republicans meet at national convention

MILWAUKEE — Organizers had predicted that the left-leaning protesters who gathered in Milwaukee on Monday, as the Republican National Convention began, would number well into the thousands.

But the demonstration that unfolded, while spirited, appeared to be far smaller than they had expected. Local police estimated that 700 to 800 people showed up to a premarch rally in a park on the hot summer day, and some in the crowd suggested that the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump two days earlier may have affected the turnout and mood.

“I had come up with many anti-Trump messages,” said J.P. Herman, 68, a real estate broker who was among the protesters. But he decided instead to convey a different tone on his sign, writing, “Love is the answer.”

For months, demonstrators had described the plans for Monday as the signature left-wing counterweight to the Republican gathering, and they sued city officials over how close they could march to the main convention hall, Fiserv Forum.

Organizers acknowledged that the crowd was smaller than they had hoped for, but the marchers did pass within several hundred feet of Fiserv Forum, far closer than the city had proposed in the weeks leading up to the convention. The protest, enthusiastic and orderly, included no significant conflicts with police or a small group of counterprotesters.

“I think that there was a lot of fearmongering that came in beforehand, and I think that unfortunately scared some folks away that would usually be out at these protests,” said Omar Flores, one of the protest leaders. “But we fought as hard as we could.”

The hourslong rally and march drew demonstrators galvanized by a range of causes, including Palestinian rights, support for Ukraine, police reform, climate change and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as general fear about the country’s future in a second Trump administration. The gathering came as thousands of convention delegates, journalists and Republican officials began their four-day meeting in Milwaukee.

“I came down to get encouraged,” said one protester, Ron Graef, 69, of suburban Milwaukee. “I’m hoping Trump doesn’t get in, because this country and world will be in trouble.”

As protesters marched through downtown, they hinted at the tensions over the Republican convention taking place in Milwaukee, a largely Democratic city in the key swing state of Wisconsin. “Get up, get down,” they chanted, “Milwaukee is a union town.”

Nearby, at an entrance to the convention’s security perimeter, drivers waited in line for more than an hour as law enforcement officials searched vehicles and cleared them to pass. Some drivers were required to open the trunks and hoods of their cars.

Looming over everything was the attack on Trump on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, which left many in the country in a state of shock and worry. But it seemed that the Republicans’ convention was moving ahead largely as planned.

Secret Service officials expressed confidence in their security plan, which they said they had “strengthened” after the shooting. Republican Party leaders said Trump would still accept the nomination in person Thursday.

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