Photo credit: Ethan Duran
Protesters kneel outside of the Milwaukee Police Department District 2 Headquarters in Bay View on Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
Tuesday, June 9 had the smallest turnout so far for the With No Justice, We Walk In Peace Protest, due to the rain and wind from Tropical Storm Cristobal, the fourth tropical system to touch Wisconsin in its history. Around 20 protesters left Humboldt Park at 4 p.m., but they managed to take up all of Howell Ave. as they marched towards the Milwaukee Police Department’s District 2 station. At the station, protesters in rain ponchos took a knee and criticized the police through a bullhorn.
Photo credit: Ethan Duran
Protesters at MPD District 2 headquarters
Say their Names
With No Justice’s organizers have marched for 12 days now, a part of citywide protests against institutional racism and police brutality after the murder of George Floyd.
Walking down Lincoln Ave., marchers chanted, “Say his name! George Floyd! Say her name! Breonna Taylor!”
“Say his name, or say her name, is to remind us to continue to say their names, because otherwise they’ll be forgotten,” said Jeremiah Thomas, one of With No Justice’s organizers, listing names of victims of racial violence like Emmett Till and Sandra Bland. “It’s a way of sending a message out that these people were murdered unjustly.”
Photo credit: Ethan Duran
The march went along Lincoln Ave. in Bay View.
At the MPD District 2 station (245 W Lincoln Ave.) protesters took a knee and raised a fist in the air in front of the concrete barricades blocking the main entrance. One marcher held the door open as the organizers began speaking through a bullhorn. “We are not a parade,” said one speaker, “We haven’t changed any laws, but we will not stop until we do.”
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At the doors of the police station, Thomas said, “Blue lives aren’t real. They can clock out at the end of the day. I can’t clock out of being black.” He also called on Chief Alfonso Morales’ statement that police officers were being followed home, responding with the fact that MPD had fired on crowds of protesters with rubber bullets the week before.
“I decided to speak at District 2 because they’ve been ignoring us,” said Thomas. “We want to make sure that they’re out here every day, using their resources and using their money, making sure that they’re out here watching what we have to say. We want to dismantle the police. We want new laws and legislation.”
Photo credit: Ethan Duran
A protester in Tuesday's march holds a sign that reads "White silence is white violence."
The army of police officers and Wisconsin National Guard members were no longer there, leaving behind an empty grass lawn. None of the officers inside of District 2 responded to the protester’s comments. Despite being soaked by rain and wind, the march continued down S Chase Ave. and looped back to Humboldt Park, where the protest dispersed after only a few hours of walking.
“I felt like it was amazing. It was amazing because people came out and showed support,” said Thomas. “If no one shows up, I’ll continue to march out.” He said he will march for 201 days, exactly one day more than the open housing marches organized by Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council and Alderwoman Vel Phillips in the late 1960’s.
There were two other gatherings in the Milwaukee area that day: A march with over 100 people in Wauwatosa and another that started in Lincoln Park on the city’s north side.
For more of our coverage of the protests occurring across Milwaukee, click here.
