Milwaukee is a Democratic-run city. It’s also where the 2024 Republican National Convention is going to be held from July 15 to July 18, 2024.
Is it any surprise that the area chosen by the city to host the thousands of protesters who will descend on Milwaukee is less than a quarter-mile from the Fiserv Forum and would give protesters a nice, clear shot at GOP delegates attending the event?
Naturally, Republicans are upset and sent a letter to the the Secret Service asking them to move the protesters farther away.
The area in question is a one-block city park and should be considered “dangerous because thousands of convention attendees will be forced to walk by the park en route to the festivities, a lawyer for the Republican Party wrote in the letter,” according to the Washington Post, who obtained a copy of the letter.
The park is located between two main streets that convention-goers will have to use to get to the Fiserv Forum. In other words, a nice, convenient gauntlet for delegates to run.
“This will force thousands of peaceful attendees and demonstrators, who may otherwise choose to avoid or limit direct, proximate engagement with one another, to be in extremely close, consistent, and unavoidable proximity. As recent college and university campus clashes make plain, forced proximity heightens tensions among peaceful attendees and demonstrators of differing ideologies and increases the risk of escalation to verbal, or even physical, clashes and corresponding law enforcement intervention,” wrote the lawyer, Todd Steggerda of McGuireWoods.
Instead, the GOP wants the Secret Service to include the area called Pere Marquette Park in its security perimeter, which would force the city to choose a different area for its “First Amendment Zone.” Pere Marquette is the closest large park to the arena. The RNC has proposed another park by City Hall across the river from the arena, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
In the letter, Steggerda wrote that the RNC asked low-level Secret Service officials to change the plan, but “this critical shortcoming has not been addressed.” By sending the letter, the RNC is escalating the dispute to the director of the Secret Service and demanding a meeting to discuss the issue.
So Joe Biden’s Secret Service didn’t want to change the security zone to accommodate the safety concerns of Republicans? Imagine that.
It’s incredible. The city of Milwaukee is going to set up a stage “with ample space, audio equipment, and a podium a short distance from Fiserv Forum,” according to the city’s website.
They’re encouraging people to be disruptive.
“Register here for the official Demonstration Speakers Platform and Parade Route, both within sight and sound access of the Republican National Convention,” reads the notice on the city’s website.
Secret Service officials have told city officials that they do not want to get involved in a political fight, said another person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential negotiations.
“This was not set up to stick it to the Republicans. This was where we were going to have the protest area for the Democrats in 2020 as well,” this person said.
This has the potential to get really ugly real quick. The Secret Service has got to take a hand against this blatant effort to allow protesters to intimidate delegates.