Protest At Milwaukee GOP Primary Debate Is 'Prelude' To RNC 2024: Activists

MILWAUKEE, WI — As the first GOP presidential primary debate nears for Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum, an activist coalition is planning to march outside in opposition to the "reactionary Republican agenda," according to a news release from organizers.

The planned demonstrations for Wednesday's debate will be a "prelude to a larger march next July" amid the RNC, said The Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 in a news release Friday. The coalition said it formed after the Republican convention was announced for Milwaukee, and according to its Facebook page, members have led protests in St. Paul in 2008, Tampa in 2012 and Cleveland in 2016.

"Many of these same organizations served as the core of the Coalition to March on the DNC in 2020," the coalition's Facebook description says, "when the Democrats faced protests from seven families whose loved ones were wrongfully murdered by police in Milwaukee and other parts of Wisconsin."

Organizers invited anyone to join for a family-friendly rally and protest, which will "serve as a warm-up" for next year's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when "thousands of protesters will rally and march through the streets of Milwaukee to oppose the reactionary Republican agenda."

Organizers said Chrisley Carpio, one of the "Tampa 5," will join the protest next Wednesday. Carpio was a University of South Florida employee who was fired after she was arrested at a protest against laws limiting African American and diversity studies at the campus in March.

Protesters plan to march near the front doors of the convention center saying "Stop the Republicans’ racist and reactionary agenda! Defend Reproductive Rights! Demand peace, justice, and equality!"

“The Republican Party and their presidential hopefuls currently represent the primary enemies of the working class and oppressed peoples all over this country and, truly, around the world,” said Omar Flores, Co-chair of the Coalition, in a news release.

Flores lambasted the field of Republican candidates "Whether it’s former president Trump, who attempted to overthrow the last election and is now embroiled in several intense legal battles" or Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, whose controversies have included questions about overseeing torture at Guantanamo Bay, Flores pointed out.

The activist group Moms for Liberty has also scheduled an event for Milwaukee ahead of the debate on Wednesday.

See also:

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