Bucks’ Brown leads one of several Milwaukee marches
Thousands continue to gather to urge change
Among the many protesting against racism and police brutality since the death of George Floyd, one voice stood out Sunday.
That of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown.
Brown stood outside Fiserv Forum, where he worked before the coronavirus pandemic halted the NBA season, and gave a brief speech before leading a march for social justice.
“We making something great happen, something positive happen, something that’s heard around the world,” Brown told a crowd estimated at 7,500. “As we march today, let’s be loud, let’s be known.”
Brown chanted with the group as it marched to Veterans Park, calling for “no racist police.” In 2018, Milwaukee police officers forced Brown to the
ground, tased and arrested him because of a parking violation at a Walgreens. His civil rights lawsuit against Milwaukee is still pending.
Brown declined media interviews Sunday but talked with a Bucks staff member on camera before leaving the group of protesters at Veterans Park.
“For these white people and everybody that’s not black to walk up the street and say black lives matter — if they really mean it, then something’s gonna come out of this,” Brown said.
Mayor Tom Barrett was at the Fiserv Forum gathering but did not speak. Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales was also with the group but left Veterans Park when protesters said he wasn’t wanted there.
A separate march Sunday afternoon at Veterans Park was intended to be accessible for people of all abilities. The group took a flat route and offered sign language interpreters and rest stops with medics and supplies.
The march took over all lanes of Lincoln Memorial Drive as it headed south.
“People with disabilities weren’t really included in the marches,” said one of the organizers, Harvey Ross, an incomplete quadriplegic due to a gunshot. “It’s like that in society for the most part. People see us, but we’re not recognized.”
The two groups merged near the Milwaukee Art Museum, where they stopped to listen to a few protesters speak and lead chants. Prominent Milwaukee protester Frank Nitty passed the microphone to a young girl who guided the crowd in a call-and-response of “No justice, no peace,” “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe, can you breathe?”
Around 4:45 p.m., the unified marchers set out west on East Michigan Street with protesters from the accessible march leading the way. Protesters approached Nitty and introduced themselves as they walked, sharing how many days they’ve marched with him, discussing his activism and occasionally posing for pictures.
At nearby Henry Maier Festival Park, a large crowd gathered for a Pride march for Black Lives Matter on what would have been Pridefest weekend, which like all of Milwaukee’s summer festivals was canceled because of COVID-19.
Prince’s “Purple Rain” played before speakers climbed on top of a minivan to address a crowd of at least 1,000.
“Me being part of the LGBT community and also being an individual of the black culture, I felt that we needed to
A series of chalk drawings spells out "Black Lives Matter" in front of the Milwaukee Art Museum on Sunday.
show our voice as a community supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,” event organizer Broderick Pearson, who is also known as Montell Infiniti Ross, told the Journal Sentinel.
Pearson noted that many issues facing the Black Lives Matter movement are also facing the LGBTQ+ community.
“We are discriminated upon, we have judgment placed upon us, there’s a lot of social inequities that are faced on both ends of the spectrum, whether you’re part of the black culture or part of the LGBT culture,” Pearson said.
Caitlin Barno, 30, of Milwaukee led a call-and-response as she walked with
Liesl Hartney, 30, of Milwaukee.
“I’m tired of crying silently at home,” Hartney said.
Barno said she did not march until she saw tear gas used on protesters in Milwaukee.
Barno said she had been contributing to various funds but didn’t feel she was doing enough.
Also over the weekend, a white woman was arrested for spitting on an African American youth during an altercation in front of a grocery store with protesters Saturday.
The Shorewood Police Department confirmed Sunday that Stephanie Rapkin of Shorewood was taken into custody Saturday night, and said it will refer criminal charges to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
Multiple videos of the incident circulating on Facebook show a car parked in the middle of North Oakland Avenue as a protest march makes its way south on the street. A video then shows Rapkin walking away from the car.
The person filming the video follows her and asks her to move her car. The two stop on the sidewalk outside the Metro Market on North Oakland Avenue.
“She won’t move her car, so we can’t go,” the person filming says, repeating, “She won’t move her car” several times.
Rapkin continues to walk away, then turns around and says, “She won’t keep me safe. You won’t keep me safe. Move away from me. Move away from me.”
In the video, another group of protesters surrounds Rapkin, shouting at her while she shouts back. When a young protester yells at her, Rapkin spits on him.
Quickly, bystanders get between Rapkin and the youth and eventually usher her away.
The video has circulated widely on social media, and state Rep. David Bowen — who also posted on social media that he was at the Shorewood march — and others have called for Rapkin, who works in Mequon as an attorney, to lose her license.
Larry J. Martin, executive director of the State Bar of Wisconsin, wrote on Sunday that he watched the video and is “both disgusted and disturbed . ... There is no justifiable reason for one person to ever spit on another individual.”
The State Bar does not handle discipline for attorneys, Martin said, and referred inquiries to the State of Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation, which investigates complaints. That office did not respond to messages Sunday.