Kamala Harris issues statement on death of Hamas leader after closed press event at UW-Milwaukee

Vice President Kamala Harris and billionaire businessman Mark Cuban met with students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday — an event that at the last minute was closed to the news media.

The campaign had planned to allow the press to be present when Harris met with students at UW-Milwaukee on Thursday morning along with Cuban, a longtime owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and celebrity investor on the TV program "Shark Tank."

A university spokesperson said the campaign handled the logistics of the event. The campaign didn't immediately explain the decision to exclude news media from the meeting with students.

Instead, Harris made a brief statement to reporters about the killing of Hamas's military leader Yahya Sinwar by Israel. Sinwar is regarded as the architect of the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that prompted the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Harris on Thursday said Israel had a right to defend itself and that Hamas's threat to Israel "must be eliminated."

"Today, there is clear progress toward that goal," Harris said. "Hamas is decimated, and its leadership is eliminated. This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza. And it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."

"And, it is time for the day after to begin without Hamas in power," she added.

Harris did not take questions.

Harris' motorcade drove past pro-Palestinian protesters on campus before meeting with other students inside the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center. The protesters said UWM had blood on its hands for inviting Harris to campus because she has been vice president during the Israel-Hamas war.

One protester confronted Harris inside the building during the event when she told students she was invested in them.

"And in genocide, right? Billions of dollars in genocide?" the activist asked, according to video posted by one of the pro-Palestinian student groups active on campus.

Harris told the protester she respected his right to speak but she was speaking then and she wanted a ceasefire, a response met by cheers from other students in the room.

UWM Police removed the person, who was cited for disorderly conduct, according to a university spokesperson.

Harris' visit to Wisconsin came less than three weeks before Election Day, when she will square off against former President Donald Trump. The Democratic hopeful planned to travel to La Crosse for an afternoon rally, followed by another evening event in Green Bay. Cuban was also scheduled to join her in La Crosse.

Harris' travel to Wisconsin and other key battleground states came as the race with Trump continues to be tight in its final weeks leading up to the Nov. 5 election. In the Marquette University Law School poll released earlier this month, Harris maintained a four-point lead over Trump, within the poll's margin of error. Among both registered and likely voters in Wisconsin, it was 52% for Harris and 48% for Trump.

VP Kamala Harris met by pro-Palestinian protesters at UWM

By the time Harris' motorcade pulled up, protesters who had gathered inside police tape had been surrounded by police officers from a number of departments.

Dina El Kassas, a sophomore majoring in global studies, was initially protesting with the group of students closest to the building who were surrounded by police.She said officers eventually allowed her to leave the group and move out of the police tape boundary because she didn’t want to be arrested. Still, she thought the heavy police presence was just for show and that police would not actually arrest the student protesters.“I think they’re just there to intimidate us,” El Kassas said.

Shortly after Harris's motorcade left, the students were released from the area within the police tape to cheers from other protesters. No one was arrested outside during the protests, a UWM spokesperson said.

El Kassas has been involved in pro-Palestinian student activism at UWM since last year, including the two-week encampment on campus. She objected to paying tuition to a school that would welcome Harris, whom she sees as complicit in Israel’s devastating military operation in Gaza.She was also frustrated UWM had released a statement days ago saying it was politically neutral.

“It’s a lie, it’s a blatant lie,” El Kassas said.

The event was not sponsored by UWM but was a rental by the Harris campaign under UWM’s space rental policy, a university spokesperson said.

Trump campaign, Republicans slam Harris visits

Trump's campaign on Thursday said Harris's visit "isn't going to move the needle for her failing campaign."

"Wisconsin will prove itself to be Trump Country when it votes for a return to the peace, prosperity, and stability of the first Trump presidency in November,” Wisconsin Communications Director Jacob Fischer said in a statement.

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming in a statement said Harris was "expecting us to ignore what our bank statements and monthly budgets make clear: that we were better off four years ago under President Trump."

Trump was most recently in Wisconsin for an Oct. 6 rally in Juneau, which was his fourth event in the swing state in just nine days. His campaign has not yet announced the next time Trump or his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, will return to Wisconsin, though Trump has also hinted at a future rally in Milwaukee or Green Bay.

Harris trip marks sixth to Wisconsin as a presidential candidate

This week's trip marks Harris' sixth visit to the state as a candidate for president, and her third stop in Milwaukee County. She launched her presidential campaign here in late July with a rally in West Allis.

Harris' last campaign event in Milwaukee was at Fiserv Forum in August, when she appeared with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. She has held other rallies in Eau Claire, Madison and Ripon.

Walz was just in Eau Claire and Green Bay Monday, where he joined Gov. Tony Evers to kick off a bus tour with fellow Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in support of Harris. First lady Jill Biden campaigned in Madison the same day. And former President Barack Obama is scheduled to join Walz and others in Madison on Tuesday, the first day of early voting in Wisconsin.

Harris previously visited UW-Milwaukee in May 2021, when she toured the university's clean energies laboratories and discussed President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan during her first trip to Wisconsin as vice president. The following year, in September 2022, she also met with UWM students and Latino leaders and visited a political science class.

Editor's note: The Journal Sentinel requested an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during her event Thursday in Milwaukee. The campaign declined to make her available. 

This story has been updated to add new information.

Journal Sentinel reporter Kelly Meyerhofer contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Harris issues statement on Gaza war after closed UW-Milwaukee event