Several groups of protestors converged outside the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena to voice their disapproval of the current president, holding signs and pulling strings to keep a massive inflatable flaming Trump upright.
Some groups were made up of vaping rights activists while other groups were less focused on specific policies and more comprised of people who just want a different president. Dozens of people wearing blue ACLU observer vests as well as Antifa members attended as well.
“If the Democrats wanted to nominate a smoking monkey, I’d vote for them,” said protestor Patrick Doornek. “Anyone but Trump.”
One main group of protestors began their march at Red Arrow Park under the watch of several groups of police officers on foot, bicycle and horseback. Police blocked off the streets surrounding the Panther Arena using barricades, police vehicles and other city vehicles like buses.
Chants of “Black lives matter!” were countered with “Trump lives matter!” until the two chants were indistinguishable.
One protestor, Diane Jakubowski, said some of the Trump supporters, leaving the rally as it ended around 8:15 p.m., told her to get a job while she held her sign at the intersection of Kilbourn Avenue and Vel R. Phillips Avenue.
Nearly all walks of life attended both the protests and the rally on Tuesday night. All ages and all skin colors could be seen on both sides of the fence.
Trump supporter Steven Smith attended the rally with a few of his friends to prove that there is support for Trump from younger demographics.
“We want to show young support for Trump and that we are not brainwashed by the liberal media,” said Smith.
During the roughly three hours of protesting, Trump supporters were able to walk through the crowds without much difficulty. Most of the Trump supporters gathered in a parking lot to watch the rally on a large projector screen while a line of protestors formed at the edges.
Some Trump supporters didn’t make it into the rally, but
wanted to be there to show their support anyways.
“It’s like when you come to support your favorite sports team,” said Trump
supporter Sam Brock. “It could be a polar vortex outside and we’d still be
here.”
Towards the end of the rally, a line of police carrying riot shields formed between the protestors and Trump supporters that seemed to outnumber the protestors.
The protests ended roughly the same time as the rally, with protestors and Trump supporters mixing into the same crowd of people all going home.