Photo credit: Ethan Duran
The family of Alvin Cole spoke at a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 6 outside the Wisconsin Center.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, the Coalition to March on the DNC and the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference outside of the Wisconsin Center on Vel R. Phillips Ave to discuss its plan for the Democratic National Convention. Former Vice President Joe Biden announced that he would not visit Milwaukee to accept his Democratic presidential nomination the day before. According to the Democratic National Convention Committee, the rest of the convention would be held virtually. The Coalition said that it would still march on August 20, the date the Democratic National Convention starts.
The Coalition and the Milwaukee Alliance both expressed displeasure after hearing that Biden would not travel to Milwaukee. The Coalition’s goals are to put pressure on the Democratic Party, lift the stories of Wisconsin’s police violence victims to a national level and stand against President Donald Trump.
Ryan Hamann, co-chair of the Coalition, said that the people’s movement for equality in Milwaukee would remain in the streets. “We’ll hear from the people on the front lines fighting for justice, particularly in the movement against police crimes,” he announced through a microphone, “And especially from the ones that lost loved ones from killer cops.”
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Lauryn Cross, an organizer for the Milwaukee Alliance, said, “Currently, most Democrats oversee most cities where police killings occur. We need to focus special attention to the Democrat party. We’re not saying that the Republican Party is any better. But they have a long history of being associated with the good party without any accountability behind it and our hope with the Coalition is to bring back the essence of accountability for both parties.”
Cross said that current elected officials could help by supporting campaigns running in the community and offer their assistance. “If they can, they should pressure the local government to meet demands of community campaigns,” she said, “Those are really the people that can carry this out.”
Cross also said that Joe Biden and the Democratic Party could put more attention to the Breonna Taylor case.
The family of Alvin Cole, a teenager who was shot and killed by Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah in February, appeared at the press conference to help boost the Coalition’s message. Cole, Antonio Gonzalez and Jay Anderson Jr., all shot by Mensah over a span of five years, are known as “The Three.”
Taleavia Cole, Alvin’s sister, said, “We congratulate you Joe Biden, but you gotta stand with us. If you’re gonna be here, you’ve got to stand with us. We can’t focus on the Democratic Convention when a national crisis is going on.”
Hamann said, “People have been marching in the city streets for over 70 days. There is still a desire to act, so we think we can still harness some of that for our specific purpose of uplifting cases of police crimes in an effort to win justice for those people.”
“We are going to have a rally, we’re going to hold them accountable,” said Cross. “There’s ways to do that without having that person there. Having everyone on foot isn’t always accessible either, but there are ways to reach elected officials and people running federal office without being in the streets.”
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