Isiah Holmes, Wisconsin Examiner

A Milwaukee man was charged Monday after writing a letter to the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump. Demetric Scott told investigators that he wrote the letter claiming to be 54-year Ramón Morales Reyes, a Mexican-born Milwaukee resident who does not have permanent legal status. Scott was already incarcerated in the Milwaukee County Jail for armed robbery and aggravated battery and allegedly victimized Morales Reyes when he committed that crime.

WISN 12 reported that Scott told investigators that he wrote the letter framing Morales Reyes because he didn’t want Morales Reyes to testify against him during his trial in July. Scott reportedly told a person during a recorded jailhouse call that if Morales Reyes “gets picked up by ICE, there won’t be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That’s my plan.”

The letter Scott authored was written in perfect English, with only a few misspellings. “We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans,” it stated, adding, “I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 (sic) to shoot your precious president in the head – I’ll see you at one of his big ralleys (sic).” The letter was likely referring to a 30-6 (pronounced 30 odd six) high caliber rifle round, and appeared to be an assassination threat against the president.

The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.

On Friday, lawyers representing Morales Reyes and local immigration advocates from Voces de la Frontera held a press conference, asserting that Morales Reyes could not have authored the letter. The 54-year-old father, who works as a dishwasher, comes from a rural part of Mexico where he received little formal education. He does not speak English and cannot read or write proficiently even in Spanish.

After Morales Reyes was arrested by ICE, his daughter contacted Voces de la Frontera and shared information about his background. Days after the arrest, Department of Homeland (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem issued a press statement, condemning Morales Reyes as having threatened President Trump’s life. Noem said the letter was part of a series of dangerous threats to the president.

Morales Reyes’ attorneys and Voces de la Frontera called on DHS to retract Noem’s statement and clear his name. It’s unclear why Noem issued the statement, as CNN reported that MPD was investigating the likelihood that the letter was a fake on the day Morales Reyes was arrested. Scott told investigators that he did not receive any help in writing the letters.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Gween Moore and Mark Pocan visited the Dodge County jail, Wisconsin’s only ICE detention facility Monday, on a congressional oversight visit. They were not permitted to talk to anyone incarcerated there and did not receive any response to their questions from ICE.

“In this facility, ICE is still detaining Ramón Morales Reyes despite being wrongfully accused of a crime,” Moore and Pocan said in a joint statement. “ICE is also working without transparency to Congress, which was only magnified by today’s visit when we tried to call the local Milwaukee field office number on its website, but the number was disconnected. It is unacceptable for ICE to be inaccessible to Members of Congress. As members of Congress, we will continue using all tools available to conduct oversight.”

Update: ICE spokespeople directed Wisconsin Examiner to a post made on X (formerly known as Twitter) announcing the arrest of Kevin Lopez, 36, a Mexican citizen, who the post said is facing state charges of sexual assault of a minor, and sexual assault of an unconscious victim. The post states that Lopez had been previously arrested by local authorities for cannabis possession. Online court records confirm the charges against Lopez.

Another Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest was made at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on May 7. Chief Judge Carl Ashley said he was told the arrest occurred after a court hearing. Since March, at least four people have been arrested for immigration enforcement in or near the courthouse. Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was charged with obstruction after escorting a man sought by ICE into a public hallway outside her courtroom.

The identity of the person arrested Wednesday has not been released. ICE officials have been unable to provide information at this time to Wisconsin Examiner.

In late March, Marco Cruz-Garcia, 24, a Mexican citizen, was arrested in the courthouse as he appeared in family court on a domestic violence restraining order. In a statement, ICE accused Cruz-Garcia of being a known member of the “Sureños transnational criminal street gang,” and cited his 2020 deportation order by a judge.

Edwin Bustamante-Sierre, 27, a Nicaraguan citizen, was arrested days after Cruz-Garcia on April 3. ICE said in a statement that Bustamante-Sierre had been charged with reckless driving, endangering safety, reckless use of a firearm, use of a dangerous weapon and cocaine possession in Fond du Lac County and Milwaukee County.

On April 18, agents arrested Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, a Mexican immigrant lacking permanent legal status, who faced three misdemeanor domestic battery charges.

The arrest of Flores-Ruiz led to Judge Dugan’s arrest. On April 25, Dugan was arrested outside the courthouse, with agents leading the judge to an unmarked squad car in handcuffs. Protests erupted that day and over the weekend at the FBI Milwaukee office, which conducted a speedy investigation into Dugan, after right-wing media outlets claimed to have broken a story about Dugan helping the man evade ICE by leading him out a side door in her courtroom.

A bipartisan letter from judges around the country objected to the unusual, high-profile arrest and “perp walk” of Dugan.

Local officials in Milwaukee have spoken out against the ICE arrests at the courthouse, saying they are disrupting proceedings as community members seek crucial services and are discouraging people from coming to court.

The activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents around the Milwaukee County Courthouse continue to spur controversy. Late last week, ICE agents arrested Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant accused of misdemeanor battery. Flores-Ruiz appeared in Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan’s court on April 18, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Now, the FBI is investigating whether Dugan helped an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after that immigrant appeared in her courtroom. Although the immigrant hasn’t been identified, Flores-Ruiz, whose immigration status is unclear, “appears to match the description,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.

On April 23, Dugan declined to comment on the investigation or possible legal proceedings. ICE officials referred questions to the FBI’s Milwaukee office, which also declined to comment. The Journal Sentinel reported that an email sent by Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carly Ashley said that ICE agents came to the Milwaukee County Courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant. Dugan wasn’t mentioned in Ashley’s communication, which went on to say that ICE agents arrived in the morning, identified themselves to security, and went to the sixth floor where Dugan’s courtroom is located.

Ashley said that the agents were asked to wait until court proceedings were over, and that their actions were consistent with draft policies. Dugan responded to the email, however, saying “a warrant was not presented in the hallway on the 6th floor,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Instead, unnamed sources in the story said that Dugan didn’t hide a defendant, but rather took the defendant and an attorney to a side door which led to a private hallway into a public area on the sixth floor.

It was the third time since March that ICE agents arrived at the courthouse to conduct arrests. Two arrests were made in March and April, with one of the individuals arrested after appearing in family court for a hearing on a domestic violence restraining order, which was ultimately dismissed.

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) said that Dugan acted in “defense of due process by preventing ICE from shamefully using her courtroom as an ad hoc holding area for deportations.” Clancy added that “we cannot have a functional legal system if people are justifiably afraid to show up for legal proceedings, especially when ICE agents have already repeatedly grabbed people off the street in retaliation for speech and free association, without even obtaining proper warrants.”

While Clancy praised Dugan, Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) said “I have never seen a more irresponsible act by an officer of the court, let alone a judge, if true.”

In Kenosha, the local Democratic Party office has received calls about residents who put up yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris receiving letters, warning of reprisal and biblical hell fire if they don’t vote for former President Donald Trump.

Lori Hawkins, chair of the Kenosha County Democratic Party, said that people have been reporting the letters to the Kenosha Police Department. “There’s a couple different versions of it, but most people I know have gotten both of them,” Hawkins told Wisconsin Examiner.

One of the letters, images of which were shared with Wisconsin Examiner, opens with the line, “We see that you have Democrat signs on your property.” The letter asks, “are you not aware that when you die that you will be held accountable before almighty God for voting for an open border that allows millions of illegal immigrants to freely enter, many of which are felons and evil people that have been doing deadly harm and will continue to do so [?]” The letter goes on to warn that voters will be held accountable by God “for voting for communism to take over America,” ending that “we don’t want anyone going to horrible hell, but you are on a fast path to it.”

After receiving multiple reports about the letters, Hawkins said that the Kenosha County Democratic Party decided to make a social media post, to ensure that people knew that they weren’t alone. The letters are typed and unsigned. “We know that the people who are putting these letters in mailboxes really believe the topics or the issues that are in the letters, and they’re probably doing it because they are fearful,” said Hawkins. “We know that it’s a bigger organization that’s fomenting this kind of fear, and playing to people’s anxieties and worries.”

Hawkins feels that the letters are “twisting the platform of Democrats who are on the ballot in a way that is, you know, pretty vile and false.” Hawkins has also received reports of Democratic yard and barn signs being slashed, defaced, driven over, or stolen. “And let’s be clear, I have heard and seen none of that happening with the large political signs belonging to Republican Party candidates,” said Hawkins. “So this is just an attempt to silence people, and make people fearful.”

Still, hundreds of people turned out for recent canvassing days held by the Kenosha County Democratic Party. Nancy Locante, a volunteer with the Kenosha County Democratic Party, received one of the letters, mailed to her with no return address. “America is at a crossroads,” one of the letters she received stated. The letter described “transgender ideology infecting our children’s schools,” high grocery bills, immigration, and persecution of “Christian values.” The letter urged Locante to vote for “biblical truths.” Locante said, “that’s quite a bit of intimidation, but of course they don’t have the guts to put their names on it. It can be a little unsettling knowing that they are watching you. But it’s unfortunate that these people’s beliefs are so misguided.” Locante hasn’t been deterred. “I’m walking around with all my buttons and merch on,” she said.

Locante plans to continue helping the Kenosha County Democratic Party canvass neighborhoods ahead of Nov. 5.

In Milwaukee, Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) have knocked on over 600,000 doors urging people to get out and vote. LIT’s organizers said they have received reports of identical letters in communities between Milwaukee and Kenosha.

In early October, the Milwaukee suburban city of Wauwatosa experienced a string of sign vandalism, which targeted Democratic-endorsed yard signs. From Wauwatosa’s southeastern corner near 55th street and Wisconsin, all the way up to the northwestern corner of 81st street and Meinecke avenue, signs were defaced with red spray paint. The Republican Party of Milwaukee County denounced the vandalism in Wauwatosa, and said those responsible should be held accountable. In September, red spray paint was used to deface Democratic signs in Madison.

Both presidential campaigns continue to focus heavily on Wisconsin. Harris and Trump held competing rallies in Milwaukee Friday night ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, following a visit Friday by Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance.

In brief remarks to the police association, Vance thanked Milwaukee officers for providing security last month during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee where, he said, he “never felt safer.” He then focused on undocumented immigrants as a cause of crime in Wisconsin and other states. “When you hear Republicans say every state is a border state, that is not just a slogan,” Vance said, “that is a sad reflection of the reality that we have drug cartels operating about as far north in this country as we possibly could.” He denounced “the policies that have come from the Harris administration that make it harder for the police to do their job,” including providing shelter and aid to immigrants “who shouldn’t be here.”

Projecting a Trump victory in November, Vance said police officers’ job is about to get “a lot easier.”

As the union and bargaining entity for the Milwaukee Police Department, the MPA represents many Milwaukee officers. MPA President Alex Ayala called the union “the force behind the force,” adding that the importance of police officers “extends far beyond the uniform and badge; it is about their commitment to serving and protecting us all.”

Ayala, who succeeded Andrew Wagner as MPA president, said in a press release that officers in Milwaukee face a variety of challenges including “low bail for dangerous criminals.”

Other problems for the police, according to Ayala, include “the need for an honest and concerted effort to pursue those offenders wanted on bench warrants, low officer morale in an often anti-police society, rushes to judgment in officer-involved incidents, not to mention the staffing crisis that requires officers to spend even more time away from their families.”

Ayala claimed that “some areas of the city will at times go with only one squad to patrol an entire area — 44,000 citizens — as squads get pulled to other parts of the city to address high priority calls which can often be more violent in nature, requiring more officers.” The MPA declared that putting Trump and Vance in the White House will help resolve the problems the police union is reporting. “Addressing these issues isn’t political — it truly is a matter of life and death to Milwaukee,” Ayala said in a press statement.

The MPA generally expresses pro-law enforcement stances on policy and politics. Trump fashioned himself as a “law and order president” from 2016 to 2020. When protesters took to the streets in cities across the country to protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Trump called on law enforcement to crack down on the demonstrations, floated deploying the U.S. military to quell the uprisings, and, according to Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, inquired about having police shoot the protesters.

In the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of Trump supporters attempted to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. After the attack, police officers who directly experienced the violent attack voiced their opposition to Trump and their support for Biden. But across the country other police remained loyal to the former president.

In Milwaukee, battles over police policy have been going on since 2020. For over a year, the police union railed against a new policy passed by the Fire and Police Commission, which required the release of video of officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths to victims’ families within 48 hours, and release to the public within 15 days. The MPA, alongside representatives from the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), which investigates officer-involved incidents, argued that releasing the video would compromise police interests in those incidents.

“These activist groups misuse important words like ‘transparency’ and ‘trust’ to push their agenda, but at the same time they reject factual data from previous community briefings,” then-MPA President Andrew Wagner said in a 2023 press statement. “Instead of waiting for an investigation to be completed, their goal appears to be setting their own narrative. We have all seen where false narratives have been put out into the public to incite riots. These false narratives have destroyed cities and when the truth finally comes out the damage has been done.” Later, the union filed a lawsuit against the video release policy, freezing its implementation for months. As the Republican National Convention (RNC) came to a close, the union dropped the lawsuit with Wagner calling the legal effort “fruitless.”

In early 2024, the MPA and other police associations worked to change state law to prevent officer-involved deaths from being investigated under Wisconsin’s John Doe law. This law allows for a judge to review a case, hear arguments, and decide whether probable cause exists to appoint special prosecutors in cases where a prosecutor, such as a district attorney, has declined to issue charges.

During public hearings, police associations accused families of people killed by police of pursuing vengeance against officers whose conduct had already been ruled justified. Wagner also told Wisconsin Examiner that the families of people killed by police are not victims, and that officers should be eventually allowed to move on with their lives after fatal incidents.

Since 2020, when Wisconsin voters chose to pass a constitutional amendment known as Marsy’s Law, debates around who is a victim in a police shooting have become more complicated. Since the passage of Marsy’s Law, which creates new privacy rights for crime victims, police departments have argued that officers who kill people in critical incidents, such as shootings, are victims, and that their identities should remain confidential.

Arguments about who is a victim divide police unions like the MPA, and local activist groups like Milwaukee’s Against Racist and Political Repression. The Alliance put out a press release criticizing Vance remarks Friday and statements by members of MPA. “One representative referred to the police officers as traumatized victims when they shoot people, recounting the officer-involved shooting on July 17th,” the Alliance stated. “Not only is this victimization of police officers a disrespectful tactic that obfuscates how victims of police crimes and their loved ones are the real victims, but it’s also a misapplication of Marsy’s Law, which the MPA continues to cite when interfering with transparency and accountability from the Milwaukee Police.”

The Alliance noted that Vance’s visit came a month to the day after the shooting of Sam Sharpe, who was killed by Ohio officers deployed to Milwaukee for the RNC. Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said that the officers were breaking up a knife fight, and saved a life by killing Sharpe. The man’s family, however, said that Sharpe — who was living unhoused with other Milwaukeeans in King Park — was being attacked by someone who had taken to harassing him. Sharpe’s family said that he had multiple medical conditions, limited mobility, and was not a threat to the officers. The Alliance highlighted that Vance’s recent statements did not mention the shooting of Sharpe. Yet, the Alliance said in a press statement, “Vance and the MPA have made it clear that they will do whatever it takes to ignore these demands and stand against people seeking transparency and accountability from law enforcement.”

The Alliance also said that while Vance touted public safety as a major part of his platform, “his remarks were simply fear mongering tactics to continue attacking immigrants and justify police crimes.” The activist group added, “Vance continually redirected questions about the budget issues police departments cause and crime in order to make insubstantial and inflammatory comments against immigrants.”

“The people of Milwaukee and organizations like ours also know that these words mean we must continue organizing in order to prioritize our communities and hold the police accountable for their crimes,” the Alliance stated.

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The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office has filed a criminal complaint charging four Hyatt Hotel staff in Milwaukee with felony murder in the death of 43-year-old D’Vontaye Mitchell. In late June, according to police reports, hotel security staff beat, dragged, and held down Mitchell while trying to remove him from the hotel.

The charges were filed Tuesday against Todd Alan Ericson, 60, Brandon LaDaniel Turner, 35, Herbert T. Williamson, 52, all of the city of Milwaukee; and Devin W. Johnson-Carson, 23, of the city of South Milwaukee.

Arrest warrants were issued for the four, but as of Wednesday night, according to online records, none appeared to be in custody at the Milwaukee County jail.

Protesters take part in a rally and march at Red Arrow Park July 18 for Dvontaye Mitchell and Sam Shorte. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Mitchell’s family along with attorneys William Sulton and B’Ivory Lamarr, said the charges mark “a significant step towards justice for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell.”

He added that “the evidence, including security footage and witness statements, paints a disturbing picture of a man in distress who was met with excessive and lethal force. The fact that D’Vontaye was held face down on the pavement for eight to nine minutes – just like George Floyd – is a sobering reminder of the urgent need for accountability and justice.”

Erickson and Turner were employed as hotel security, Williamson worked as a bell driver door attendant for the Hyatt, and Jonson-Carson as a front desk agent, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Mitchell’s death occurred a couple of weeks before the Republican National Convention (RNC) was held in the downtown area of Milwaukee. During the convention, protesters drew attention to the Mitchell case, and Mitchell’s family and other supporters questioned the lack of action on the case while the convention was in town.

The Hyatt straddled the convention’s hard-security footprint, and was the site of one protest demonstration during the convention.

According to early news accounts about the incident, when police arrived at the Hyatt on June 30th following a report of a disturbance, Mitchell was already unresponsive. The criminal complaint states that video shows Mitchell running across the hotel’s lobby “in what appears to be a frantic manner,” entering a gift shop and then a woman’s bathroom.

Mitchell allegedly tried to lock himself in the bathroom while two women were also inside. Seconds later, the Journal Sentinel reported, one of the women hurried out of the bathroom.

According to the criminal complaint, when the woman left the bathroom, Turner entered and pulled Mitchell out by the shirt. Video shows that as Mitchell was dragged out of the front lobby, hotel staff punched him, with one staff member hitting him with a broom. Staff continued to punch Mitchell once he was on the ground, according to the complaint.

According to the criminal complaint, detectives described Mitchell’s behavior as “erratic and confusing” and said that he resisted the hotel staff. The detective also noted that Mitchell did not “instigate any violence or display any obviously aggressive or threatening behavior while on the hotel premises,” the complaint states.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner report listed the cause of death as asphyxia. The medical examiner also determined that Mitchell had drugs in his system, according to the report. A metal pipe, consistent with cocaine use, was allegedly recovered from Mitchell’s left shoe, as was a glass pipe from his anus, the complaint said.

Mitchell’s family members have said he was a fun, caring, loving person who liked to cook and did it well.

“This case underscores the critical need for comprehensive training and oversight of security personnel to ensure that they are equipped to handle situations without resorting to excessive force,” said Crump in a statement. “The charges filed today are an important step, but they are just the beginning. D’Vontaye’s life mattered, and his story will not be forgotten.”

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Columbus, Ohio police officers shot and killed a homeless man close to Milwaukee’s King Park on Tuesday. The shooting took place more than a mile from the security perimeter of the Republican National Convention, which has drawn more than 4,000 police officers from across the country to the city.

Security camera video of the incident, obtained by the Wisconsin Examiner from the Milwaukee Alliance, a community organizing group, shows two men walking into the street appearing to be fighting when the police officers enter the frame and immediately shoot one of the men.

A group of teenagers who were playing basketball at the park said the police started firing within 20 seconds of arriving at the scene. King Park is known to have a tent community of unhoused people, which has fluctuated in size over the years. On Monday evening, the Poor People’s Army led a march from King Park to the Republican National Convention grounds to raise awareness of the needs of unhoused people. Community members near the scene said the victim, first identified by Urban Milwaukee as Sam Sharpe, lived in the encampment in the park. Some local residents said the man was known to live in the park with his dog.

Residents of the neighborhood said they want to know why the Ohio officers were outside the RNC security zone. “I heard the chief say that he was going to protect not only the zone, but the city,” neighborhood resident Carl Gray told Wisconsin Examiner. “We ain’t protected, that’s not protection when you have Ohio police that’s coming here and killing Milwaukee residents.”

Aurelia Ceja, a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Alliance, told the Wisconsin Examiner that the shooting was a “worst case scenario” of the RNC coming to Milwaukee after activists had warned city officials that inviting thousands of additional law enforcement officers to the community was a threat. She added that Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said prior to the convention that cops from outside agencies would not be patrolling outside of the security footprint of the convention.

Milwaukee’s King Park surrounded by yellow tape after a police shooting. Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner

Brian Steel, president of the Columbus Police Union, said in a statement that the union had “been made aware that members of the Columbus Division of Police were involved in an officer-involved shooting at the Republican National Convention … No officers have been injured.”

Steel told the Examiner that Columbus sent 40 officers to Milwaukee for the RNC, adding that while he expected the two officers involved in the shooting to leave, the others would remain in the city to “complete their mission.”

With thousands of police in the city from federal, state and local agencies across the country, questions have been referred to the Milwaukee Police Department, which as of 5:45 on Tuesday evening, had not yet made a statement on the incident.

A candlelight vigil is planned for 8 p.m. at King Park.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A few blocks from the security fence surrounding the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, hundreds of protesters gathered, advocating for the rights of Palestinians, immigrants, women, people of color and LGBTQ people. They came representing groups as varied as “proud Democrats” and “anarchists of Wisconsin” to gather in Red Arrow Park for a rally against Republican policies and Donald Trump, who will become the GOP presidential nominee later this week.

On a humid day with temperatures nearing 90 degrees, rally-goers took shelter in the shade while speakers onstage railed against “white Christian nationalism,” U.S. support for Israel, attacks on reproductive rights, Republican plans for mass deportation of immigrants and Trump himself. Over 120 organizations participated in the Coalition to March on the RNC, which began planning the protest two years ago when discussions began about bringing the convention to Milwaukee.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the immigrant workers’ rights group Voces de la Frontera Action, began her remarks by condemning political violence after the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania Saturday that injured Trump and resulted in the deaths of both the shooter and firefighter Corey Comperatore.

Neumann-Ortiz also said that “it’s undeniable” that Trump’s rhetoric has “contributed to a climate of increased violence and legitimized hate crimes by white nationalists.” Neumann-Ortiz condemned Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, his followers’ calls to hang then-Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and “hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric” targeting immigrants during the 2024 campaign, which she connected to an increase in violent crimes against people of color and immigrants.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric led to “tragedies like those here in Milwaukee with the fatal shooting of Hmong parents and a Puerto Rican father by a neighbor in their apartment complex in front of their children,” Neumann-Ortiz said during a press conference before the march. Other examples, she said, included “when a man threw acid on the face of a U.S. citizen from Peru, saying he was illegal, and had to go back. Or nationally, with the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern history in El Paso, when a white nationalist carried out a mass shooting killing 23 Latinos.”

March participants from across the country said they felt that Trump’s rhetoric, adopted by the Republican Party, is a threat to their lives and health.

“Defeating the Republican agenda is a matter of life and death for working and oppressed people,” said Kodi Guillory, a middle school science teacher from Chicago. “We have to protect ourselves in this country and we have to stand in solidarity with oppressed people around the world.”

Victoria Hinckley, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society said she is concerned about attacks on reproductive health since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“The Dobbs decision was a direct result of Trump’s presidency, in fact he takes pride in this,” said Hinckley during the press conference. “Women and students around the country have been suffering since the Dobbs decision and SDS is dedicated to fighting for abortion and reproductive rights, until it is readily available for every person in America.”

At the west end of the park, a small group of pro-Trump counter protesters stood with signs depicting aborted fetuses and the Prophet Muhammad wearing a dress. A man sporting a red Make America Great Again hat yelled into a megaphone, “Watch out for the queers!” while a man with a pro-abortion rights sign yelled back into his own megaphone, “Abortion is health care!”

At Red Arrow Park, police officers from the Columbus, Ohio Police Department, wearing “dialogue team” vests, wandered about, conversing with rally-goers. News reporters from outlets all over the world paced in the heat as preparations for the march were underway. Rally organizers kept the crowd animated with chants, speeches from coalition members and free water distributed by the volunteer street marshals and medics. Some organizations pitched their own candidates for President, including Claudia de la Cruz, who is running for the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Leaning against a railing, Paul Doro, a high school English teacher from Fox Point, watched the rally wearing a “Great Lakes” hat and shirt.

“It’s a resource we can’t take for granted,” he said of the world’s largest supply of fresh water in the Upper Midwest. “I think one party cares about [that resource] more than the other.”

Doro said he is also worried about Republican efforts to ban books in schools in his district.

“There’s things we’re not allowed to teach,” he said. “The largely white kids I teach in the suburbs won’t be exposed to things we want them to be.”

By noon, the crowd of protesters had swelled to more than 1,000 and people began to march down Water Street. With drums pounding, the crowd chanted an array of protest standards, including declaring that Milwaukee’s streets are “our streets.”

Outside the Riverside Theater, operated by the Pabst Theater Group, protesters chanted, “Get up, get down, Milwaukee is a union town.”

The front of the pack, dominated by pro-Palestine protesters, chanted against both Trump and President Joe Biden, saying “No Donald, No Joe, genocide has got to go.”

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK, said a common thread connecting the disparate groups that joined the Coalition to March on the RNC was confronting militarism.

“I see the people who are here who are calling for money to be spent on issues that help people’s lives and address this climate crisis that we’re dealing with, recognize that we’re spending like a $1 trillion on the military, and we’re keeping the war in Ukraine going, and we’re supplying Israel with all these horrific weapons, and this isn’t doing the people any good,” Benjamin said. “Neither of these two parties represent the people,” she added. “They are corporate interests whether it’s the interests of the military industrial complex, or the pharmaceutical industry, or the interests of the lobby groups, but not the interests of the people.”

Other rally-goers and organizers also expressed discontent with both the Democrats and the Republicans.

After a loop around Water Street, the march turned toward the convention site at Fiserv Forum, where law enforcement officers from around the country and U.S. Secret Service guarded the perimeter. Near the gates, the crowd ran into a small group of anti-abortion protesters.

Dr. Paul Zietz, a physician who attended the rally to protest the war in Gaza, said that he believes Trump brought together the groups that joined the march from all over the country to make common cause. “I think he is a symptom of our broken constitution,” Zietz told Wisconsin Examiner, adding, “a part of America has died.”

“Facism rises very quickly. It’s intoxicating. He’s a strong man … he can wrap people under his spell,” Zietz said. “We had to come in here and say that the story out of Milwaukee is not the coronation of a dictator.” Instead, he said, the story was the protest and the “declaration of interdependence” among the many groups that joined the march.

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On Sunday, the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention (RNC) affirmed its determination to march Monday morning, on the convention’s first day. “For the past two years all across this country, we pulled together a broad grouping of community organizations, unions, students, immigrant rights, LGBTQ, anti-war groups, and many others,” coalition spokesperson Omar Flores said at a press conference. “We have not had safety issues at any of our several marches or events, and we look forward to our family-friendly march tomorrow, Monday July 15 at 10 a.m., here in Red Arrow Park.”

Earlier this week, the coalition came to an agreement with the city of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and U.S. Secret Service on a route for its march within sight and sound of the Fiserv Forum, where the RNC will be held. The agreement on the protest route was met without a permit actually being approved by the city. Still, coalition organizers are confident that the agreement significantly decreases the level of risk to marchers.

Over 120 progressive organizations have come together to confront what the coalition calls a “racist and reactionary Republican agenda.” Flores said that on Saturday evening the coalition met with the city and re-confirmed that agreement. A member of the Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office will also attend the march to make sure it proceeds smoothly.

The Sunday press conference came after former President Donald Trump was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthews Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who was killed at the scene. On Saturday, the Secret Service said shots had been fired from an elevated position near the stage where Trump spoke. Reports indicate that at least one rally-goer was killed, and two others injured. Trump received a grazing wound to his right ear, and was photographed bloodied and raising his fist in the air while being escorted away by Secret Service agents. The motive for the shooting is unknown and currently under investigation.

The U.S. Secret Service said that there are no plans for changes in the security perimeter for the RNC. During a Sunday afternoon press conference, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, RNC coordinator for the Secret Service, said, “We’re not anticipating any changes,” adding that the Secret Service and local law enforcement worked for 18 months to develop a security plan. “We are confident in these security plans that are in place for this event, and we’re ready to go.”

Gibson-Cicchino said she could not comment on a statement by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who has called on the Secret Service to ban guns in the outside perimeter of the RNC and that she had not had any conversations on the matter with Evers.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, MPD Chief Jeffrey Norman, and officials from the FBI also spoke at the press conference. Since the RNC is a “national security event,” it receives the highest degree of security attention from the agency, they explained.

Norman said people have a right to carry firearms under state law. However, he added, “as that is your right, please exercise your right in a responsible manner.” Norman said that MPD “will not tolerate any particular behaviors outside of what is legally allowed in regards to that right.” Johnson reiterated that Wisconsin is an open carry state, and local officials can’t override state law by banning weapons in the RNC’s outer security perimeter. An FBI spokesperson at the Sunday press conference said that there is “no known, articulated threat to the RNC or any specific individual attending.”

To convention attendees and delegates, Norman stressed that a lot of effort is being dedicated to securing the convention. “We are planned and actually ready with the resources,” said Norman. “This is our community, too.”

At the protesters’ press conference, when asked whether the coalition condemns the shooting, Flores repeatedly stressed that “the shooting has nothing to do with us.” The coalition does not anticipate that the shooting will change any plans with the protest, though organizers are prepared make any changes at a moment’s notice. “Honestly, all of the planning from the city has been extremely last minute, so we’re pretty used to last minute changes, and we’ll be ready for anything.”

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The Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention (RNC) is condemning efforts by RNC leaders to keep protests as far from the convention as possible. As first reported by Politico, GOP leaders issued a letter to the Secret Service arguing that allowing protests anywhere near the convention security footprint threatens the safety of the attendees. In response, the Coalition to March on the RNC issued a public statement criticizing ongoing efforts to limit expression during the national political convention which will come to Milwaukee in July.

In their letter, RNC leaders pointed to a worsening security situation, accusing the Secret Service of not acting on its demands. “Rather than dissipating, the overall security climate has worsened significantly over the past month of the [U.S. Secret Service’s] inaction,” Republican National Committee counsel Todd Steggerda wrote in a letter to the agency. “Your failure to act now to prevent these unnecessary and certain risks will imperil tens of thousands of Convention attendees, inexcusably forcing them into close proximity to the currently planned First Amendment Zone.”

The RNC will be held around the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee July 15-18. The Coalition to March on the RNC has struggled to get a permit to hold demonstrations within sight and sound of the convention. City officials, working in conjunction with the Secret Service, have proposed marking out a stage where groups will be allowed 15 minutes to speak, whether in favor of the convention and republican policy, or against. Meanwhile the coalition, which is made up of over 60 organizations, has yet to have its permit to protest approved by the city.

Although the location for the designated speakers’ platform hasn’t been publicly disclosed, the coalition stated in a press release that there has been discussion of a location in Pere Marquette Park, which is closer to the convention site than the RNC organizers want. “The Republicans explicitly named the Coalition to March on the RNC, and extensively quoted the Coalition, as a significant security risk,” the group stated in a press release. “The coalition is called ‘disturbing,’ and the RNC obliquely claims it is inciting violence. This is a disingenuous, cowardly position to take, and the Coalition condemns any and all attempts to paint us as violent or infringe on our right to take the streets.”

In their letter, RNC officials suggested a one-block adjustment to the protest site. According to Politico, Republicans have sent three letters to the Secret Service over the last month. Those included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The Secret Service has previously expressed confidence in its security plans, and a reluctance to push protests further away from the convention site.

The Coalition to March on the RNC insists that it is seeking to hold a peaceful, family friendly march. “Meanwhile, the Republicans are cheerleaders for murderers like Kyle Rittenhouse and regularly make cartoonishly racist and reactionary statements,” the Coalition stated in a press release. “‘Hypocritical’ and ‘disingenuous’ are not sufficient to describe what is happening here. The RNC wants to support violent, anti-democratic events like the January 6th insurrection, but trembles at the thought of thousands of people and families marching for peace, justice, and equity.”

So far, the coalition has still not received specific information about the location of a speakers’ platform and what routes will be allowed for marches. “The Coalition is prepared to obtain the information we need about the routes and new permitting process through legal action,” it stated.

Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

An internal chat pod, obtained by Wisconsin Examiner through open records requests, provided few details on “the MATRIX.” A variety of law enforcement task forces and intel teams operate in Milwaukee County. The identities of those units and their activities are not always well understood by either the public or elected officials.

Even the personnel within the chat pod seemed initially confused as to who was responsible for detaining the activists. Not long after Capt. Pfeiffer’s message, Inspector Brian Barkow, of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), messaged that, “MCSO detectives from an ATF task force observed what appeared to be a firearm. Two rifles and two pistols in the [activist’s] vehicle. THEY WERE ALL BB or PELLET guns.

Vaun Mayes, a longtime community organizer, was one of the activists stopped that day. He’d traveled with the crowd of marchers as it wound through Milwaukee’s North Side, then south and east before wrapping back towards downtown. Mayes was wearing a mock tactical vest and openly carrying pellet guns — a decision he made, he says, because of the threatening political environment at the time, including from rightwing militia groups.

Livestreaming on Facebook, Mayes interacted with the crowd that day, and did interviews with local media. At one point, he noticed the Black Chevrolet SUV had been trailing the march for some time. It followed Mayes as he drove off, coming alive with police sirens a couple blocks from the march. Det. Brian Conte of the MCSO walked up to Mayes’ window and asked if he had a concealed weapon permit, also stating the stop was for “a traffic violation.” Mayes recalled that, “they tried to make it about the insurance and the seat belt first.” Eventually the pellet guns were removed, the car searched and then towed away. Mayes was given a citation for driving without insurance, but the pellet guns were returned. As someone with a felony record Mayes is unable to possess firearms but he can legally carry pellet guns. Wisconsin is also an open carry state.

Throughout the encounter some deputies claimed to not know who Mayes was. Others, however, asked Mayes directly about federal charges he’s faced since 2018, which accuse him of conspiring to attack police after the killing of Syville Smith in 2016. The chat log obtained by Wisconsin Examiner also identified Mayes before personnel could identify the unit that followed him. “I know he knew who I was,” Mayes says of the law enforcement officer who pulled him over. After the encounter, the U.S. Attorney’s Office messaged in the chat pod that the federal probation office had contacted Mayes, telling him to not carry fake guns and to obey the city’s curfew.

A murky web of intelligence, and conflict

The experience left Mayes wary of spending a lot of time around the protests. Later that summer, Conte received a list of people allegedly connected to the protests by the Wauwatosa Police Department. Mayes, along with lawyers, elected officials, journalists and other activists were on the list. But an open records request to the MCSO for materials mentioning the MATRIX and Conte was denied, citing no records found. A request to the Milwaukee PD – which declined to comment on the unit – yielded a handful of emails revealing friction between the MATRIX and other law enforcement units.

More than a month before the protests began, Capt. Pfeiffer attempted to raise the alarm about issues with the MATRIX. In an email sent April 1 2020, Pfeiffer advised against giving an unnamed home invasion suspect “consideration” in exchange for information. “SID has worked very hard to keep these guys off the street,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, because the Matrix unit doesn’t communicate very well, we get these situations where they try to drum up intel on things or cutting deals with them while actually hurting our efforts on keeping bad guys locked up. Hopefully you don’t need [REDACTED] cooperation or info on this case. Thanks.”

SID specializes in wanted fugitive apprehension, narcotics, and firearms investigations. In early 2022, it also took on at least partial responsibility for the MPD’s cell phone surveillance technology.

Later that month, Pfeiffer sent an urgent email to the District Attorney’s Office. “I know it’s Friday, but I wanted to see if you had some time to talk about this new MATRIX group from the MCSO and some issues we are having with some of our arrests/cases,” the email stated. “It can’t wait until next week. Thanks.”

Like the MPD, the District Attorney’s Office did not comment for this story. Although MATRIX was described as an “ATF task force” by Sheriff Inspector Barkow, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) also didn’t have answers when asked what MATRIX is. A spokeswoman for the ATF said that she “cannot seem to find any MATRIX unit that ATF is involved with in connection with the Milwaukee County Sheriff. Nor do we have any squads that are referred to as MATRIX Units.” The spokeswoman speculated that, due to the term “task force,” the unit may have come about through a process where local and state police are deputized as ATF task force officers. In such cases, the officers could report either to their own department or the ATF.

The Wisconsin Examiner waited over two months for comment from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

“MATRIX, which stands for Milwaukee Area Threat Reduction (through) Intelligence Exchange, is MCSO’s intelligence unit that was originally created to deal with threat assessment and threat mitigation in the Milwaukee County Jail,” said spokesperson James Burnett III. “Since the creation of the unit approximately four years ago, it has evolved into a special investigations unit that works with other local law enforcement agencies.”

Burnett said that Conte is not part of MATRIX, and spoke to the issues raised by MPD Capt. Pfeiffer. “When the unit was first created, there may have been tensions common with ‘growing pains’ with other investigative units at other area law enforcement agencies. As the unit has grown and matured, it has collaborated frequently with other area agencies. MATRIX members and leadership are confident in their positive, ongoing working relationship with other agencies, including the Milwaukee Police Department.”

Protesters confronting riot-clad officers who are blocking the freeway on the first day. (Photo by Isiah Holmes)

Milwaukee County Supervisor Ryan Clancy, chair of the county board’s committee on law enforcement, has been a vocal critic of the MCSO, and an advocate for police reform. Clancy had never heard of MATRIX and, says he has yet to hear an explanation of the unit from the MCSO. “Like so many others, my inquiries to the MCSO about MATRIX have gone unanswered,” Clancy told Wisconsin Examiner. “This is in line with the lack of transparency and opaqueness from the department, and underlines the need for the Board of Supervisors to exercise additional oversight.”

Mayes feels there is not enough accountability for police intel units in Milwaukee. In his community work, Mayes has encountered other low key units such as HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area), a network of both local and federal task force officers focused on drugs and violent crime. He has concerns about how these units gather intelligence, especially when confidential informants are involved.

“I remember in 2016-2017, I had a [parole officer] who literally came to talk to me at one of the meetings we had at Sherman,” said Mayes. The officer told Mayes that many informants were starting to become sourced from probation and parole offices, rather than arrests off the street. If you’re on probation or parole, “you can’t refuse police contact, but you can also get in trouble for police contact,” said Mayes. “Anytime you get any entity like that, that can operate under the radar, no oversight, you don’t know who these people are.”

Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.