Politics

Social Justice Warriors, Black Lives Matter Activists March Outside GOP Debate

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MILWAUKEE — Just before the Republican undercard debate in Milwaukee, protesters gathered just down the street in front of City Hall for a raucous demonstration.

Yellow school buses sat parked in front of the building to deliver the protesters. Several organizers stood at strategic locations handing out signs for participants to hoist in the air. The most common signs were emblazoned with United Auto Workers symbols and the words “Fight for $15.”

“Fight for $15” signifies the proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

An organizer told The Daily Caller that the organizers of the protest came from several organizations including unions and Black Lives Matter.

Several speakers stood up and made declarations.

One man orated that he hates Donald Trump because hasn’t “worked in the fields.” He then switched to speaking in lyrical Spanish.

Another speaker stood up to say that the goal of the protest and an impending march to the Milwaukee Theatre — the site of tonight’s GOP debate — was “to make them so goddamn scared they come runnin’ out.”

“We ain’t burned down nothin’ yet,” he also said, placing strong emphasis on the word “yet.”

A woman who identified herself as a student at a Milwaukee college began her short speech by repeatedly asking: “Where are all the revolutionary sisters at?” She indicated that her classmates have been “deported” and also “shot dead in the street.”

On the outskirts of the crowd of a few hundred, a trio of males — perhaps students — held signs reading “FeelTheBern” and “Time to legalize cannabis.”

There was a prayer near the end of the portion of the protest which occurred at City Hall. The man who uttered the prayer solemnly ended it with the words: “Amen to $15.”

As the march portion of the protest began, several police officers on motorcycles lined up to escort the demonstrators on the short trudge from City Hall to the Milwaukee Theatre.

At the front of the march, protesters held a long, white banner reading “Stop the Party of Hate.” Another blue and yellow banner read “FIGHT FOR $15” and “BLACK LIVES MATTER” — in all-capital letters.

Marchers yelled a lot.

“Si se puede” was a common refrain. (It means, of course, “yes we can” in Spanish.)

Another chant in Spanish was: “Que queremos? Justicia! Cuando? Ahora!!” (Translation: “What do we want? Justice? When? Now!!”

As the march got fully underway, the chant refrain was: “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! The GOP has got to go.”

At one point, as several photographers and cameramen began walking slowly backward in front of the marchers, a protest organizer wearing a yellow vest yelled into his bullhorn, chiding the marchers for obstructing the views of the banners by the photographers.

As the demonstration ambled by a Benihana restaurant, a pair of protesters moved to the front with a large papier-mâché caricature of [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] and yelled angrily about Rubio.

Outside the Milwaukee Theatre, the marchers met several protesters who were already onsite.

One protester carried a huge, red flag featuring Che Guevara.

Another onsite protester was a blond college student holding a poster on a stick reading “Free Palestine.” She told TheDC that she is a student at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee who was born and raised in the state of Wisconsin.

She also noted that Republicans oppose Planned Parenthood and that she is a strong supporter of the organization.

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