Demonstrators who hoped to spread their message at the Milwaukee RNC find no audience

Madelyn Robinson, 18, and about 15 other people from the nonprofit Truth Pharm gathered around the white gazebo in Zeidler Union Square to bring attention to the opioid epidemic in the U.S.

But 40 minutes into their event at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, no one showed up — not even the other group that was scheduled to speak, Robinson said.

"We feel a little bit deceived," she said. "Our team is a little bit frustrated because it was assumed that we would be closer to the RNC event, and there will be foot traffic here."

The Coalition to March on the RNC drew more than 500 protesters to Red Arrow Park on Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention. The vigil for Samuel Sharpe, who was killed by Ohio police outside the RNC perimeter on Tuesday, brought together another 100 people.

But overall, demonstrations surrounding the RNC have not drawn as many people as expected. A few scheduled speakers even dropped out or didn't show up for their event slots this week.

Some blame lack of communication from the City of Milwaukee. Others say they didn't want to be wrapped up in any potential violence or associated with the political views of other demonstrators.

The City of Milwaukee granted a demonstration time slot to everyone who requested one, said city spokesperson Jeff Fleming.

"I think a number of people were under the impression that they would be showing up and there would be crowds of people waiting to listen to them," Fleming said. "They may be showing up and finding out that there aren't people waiting to hear them."

Miscommunication between city and demonstrators

Robinson traveled from upstate New York to Milwaukee on Monday, she said. People with Truth Pharm feel disappointed with the City of Milwaukee for assigning them to Zeidler Union Square, which is within the vehicle screening perimeter of the RNC but relatively isolated from the main event itself, she said.

A security guard in an orange T-shirt told the Journal Sentinel another organization was supposed to come speak after Truth Pharm and then parade around the square together, but the other group didn't show.

"There's not another group, so we don't really know what to do," Robinson said.

Truth Pharm considered joining the Coalition to March on the RNC at Red Arrow Park on Monday but decided against it, Robinson said. They were concerned about being affiliated with the coalition's political views.

As a nonpartisan organization, Robinson said Truth Pharm can't express political opinions.

"We didn't want to be a part of that because we heard that it could be violent," Robinson said.

Evolve Church, a self-described "community-oriented" church in Milwaukee, agrees there was some confusion in the demonstration application process. The church didn't receive any confirmation of its demonstration slot for Monday in Haymarket Square, said Curtis Harbin, outreach director for the church.

"We didn't know that we were actually eligible to go down there," Harbin said.

Fleming said Thursday that the city emailed Evolve Church its confirmation at the email address they provided.

Milwaukee for Yemen is newly formed group that's bringing awareness to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, said lead organizer Anita Herrezuelo.

The city's demonstration sign-up list has Milwaukee for Yemen slotted to speak Wednesday afternoon. But Herrezuelo said her group wasn't aware.

"We did not sign up for that, so that is really interesting," Herrezuelo said.

Milwaukee for Yemen joined the Coalition to March on the RNC on Monday, but Herrezuelo said they didn't want to participate in further protests because of concerns about the thousands of police from out-of-state.

"We don't necessarily feel very safe going out and demonstrating, especially with yesterday, someone just being shot and killed by Columbus police," Herrezuelo said.

Tension, safety concerns deter demonstrators

Forward Latino signed up to speak at Zeidler Union Square Tuesday afternoon to encourage minorities to vote in the presidential election, said president Darryl Morin.

But the nonprofit decided to withdraw after learning the city was referring to the scheduled speakers as "demonstrators," according to Morin, who said he didn't consider their message a "demonstration."

"We wanted to make sure that our message was always looked at in a very positive way," Morin said.

Forward Latino's plan B was to host a press conference outside City Hall, but it changed its mind again after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Morin said. They plan to reschedule the press conference to an undetermined date.

"We didn't want to add additional burden to the security services and all law enforcement," Morin said.

Other protesters were more active Wednesday, including a group of anti-war protesters from the nonprofit CODEPINK.

About 13 CODEPINK protesters confronted convention guests Wednesday afternoon outside of the "Boots, Beers and Bulls" event at Red Rock Saloon. The national security event featured Senators Lindsey Graham, Joni Ernst and Bill Hagerty.

The protesters repeatedly engaged attendees from across the security line, asking them what they thought about the war in Gaza and the United States' relationship with China. As tension between protesters and guests rose, one staffer gave the protesters the middle finger.

Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of CODEPINK, is known on TikTok for engaging politicians at public events. She said that Tuesday's events — the police shooting and the arrest of her colleague after a confrontation with Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden — had slowed momentum for planned protests.

As of Tuesday afternoon, it was not clear whether charges had been filed against her colleague, Nour Jaghama.

"We were up to three and four in the morning trying to get her out of jail," Benjamin said.

Benjamin said potential demonstrators might hear about yesterday's incident and become hesitant to join the protests.

"That cast a pall on people because it makes them afraid to be out, thinking that if you're just standing in line peacefully or doing a peaceful protest like this, you could be arrested," Benjamin said.

Gina Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at [email protected].

Kathryn Muchnick is an education intern for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Safety concerns, poor communication deter protesters from RNC