Protests in metro Milwaukee include ‘art build’
Council challenges police chief about statements
Day 11 of protests in Milwaukee and several more marches drew hundreds of people into streets and parks Monday to voice their opinions and opposition to social injustice.
Among them was Ashley Smith who was part of a group of black women who organized a protest and “art build” in Sherman Park.
Smith, 24, went to Sherman Park on Monday to try to bring the community together through art and to make sure other black women have the opportunity and resources to thrive.
The “art build” consisted of cardboard, spray paint, stencils and other donated supplies to create color signs for the protest. There was also a spokenword poetry performance.
“It brings us together by actually creating something that turns our feelings and our passions into a piece of work,” said Smith.
The group also organized a petition on change.org to take at least 10% of the Milwaukee police budget and reinvest in schools and community organizations.
Among the other protests on Monday, around 100 people gathered for a march through Shorewood, organized by Community Task Force MKE. The original route of the march was to visit historic sites of racist violence and police brutality.
But after a viral video began circulating of a white attorney spitting on a black high school student at a protest Saturday, Community Task Force MKE founder Vaun Mayes changed the route to wind through Shorewood. He said he wanted to draw attention to racism in the community.
The protest traveled through Shorewood and eventually stopped in front of the house of Stephanie Rapkin, the attorney who has been charged with disorderly conduct after spitting on high school student Eric Lukas.
In other charges connected to local protests, a 38-year-old Milwaukee man was charged with aiming a laser pointer at an FBI surveillance plane and a National Guard helicopter.
Jeremiah Belen faces a single federal count of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.
On June 1, 3 and 4, the pilot of a Wisconsin National Guard Blackhawk helicopter flying over protests reported being targeted with a laser. One night it was coming from a demonstration near Milwaukee Police Department District 5, very close to a house near First and Chambers.
“Whenever (the helicopter pilot) was hit with the laser in these recent evenings, (he) was forced to look away and maneuver the aircraft into a new position,” according to the criminal complaint.
FBI agents in a plane flying over protests on May 31 detected green dots on the wings and cockpit coming from the vicinity of North Avenue and North 14th Street.
On the evening of June 3, the agents noticed the laser again, and this time were able to trace it to the front porch of a house in the 3000 block of North 1st Street. On Sunday the pilot of the FBI plane reported seeing the laser, and agents on the ground saw Belen standing on his porch pointing an object into the sky.
Also Monday, 13 members of the Milwaukee Common Council challenged statements by Police Chief Alfonso Morales about the protests happening because of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
“When something happens in another state, it’s very, very easy to jump on the bandwagon and say Milwaukee can do better,” Morales said. “Shame on them. That’s an easy narrative.”
Common Council members Ashanti Hamilton, Cavalier Johnson, Nik Kovac, Robert Bauman, Nikiya Dodd, Milele Coggs, Khalif Rainey, JoCasta Zamarripa, Chantia Lewis, Michael Murphy, José Pérez, Marina Dimitrijevic, and Russell Stamper II wrote that Floyd’s death was the immediate cause of the protests, but not the only cause.
They referenced the names of people who had died or suffered significant injuries at the hands of Milwaukee police.
“And after a week of protests in our city, we are not just protesting the past: we are protesting the present and your police department’s response to these protests,” they wrote.
They urged Morales to listen to protesters’ demands in response to his statement that law enforcement throughout the nation was being crucified. They also referenced the names of Milwaukee police officers who have died.