Milwaukee students say ‘Dump Trump’

With youth and students taking the lead, Donald Trump was confronted across Wisconsin during his campaign there. Trump and other presidential candidates were touring the state leading up to the April 5 primary.

On March 30, students and workers in Green Bay confronted Trump. Before this, Trump was confronted in Janesville and other locations.

On April 3, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a rainbow of individuals from an array of organizations came out to protest Trump. They were outraged that the UWM administration would allow the anti-worker, white-supremacist Trump to speak on campus. Protesters gathered in Spaights Plaza and held a militant demonstration facing off against city and campus police protecting Trump.

At one point, the protesters marched through adjacent streets and through the campus, returning to the site where those entering to hear Trump were. The students and workers again faced off against police on foot and horseback. When a student was snatched by the police and detained, the protesters held an hours-long sit-in to demand the name and release of the student.

During the sit-in, numerous students and workers spoke out against Trump and capitalism and for socialism. When the student, Chivaliea Hayes, was released, the protesters dispersed, vowing to stop Trump at his next appearance in Milwaukee on April 4.

The UWM “Dump Trump” protest was organized and supported by many groups, including Youth Empowered in the Struggle at UWM, the African Student Association, Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Student Union, the Latin American Solidarity Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Lives Matter, Community Uprising, the Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement and Workers World Party.

Also on April 3, students and workers confronted Trump and his supporters at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee.