And so we begin the first day of the American political quadrennial. This week, the Republican Party coronates former President Donald Trump as its nominee. Had he not turned his head late Saturday afternoon, the 2024 convention might have been the first truly interesting one in decades. Fate and millimeters make for strange bedfellows.

The assassination attempt will only serve to mythologize Donald Trump. The five photojournalists at last Saturday’s rally produced striking imagery, which is already being used (hopefully licensed) by Trump’s campaign in fundraising ads. No doubt that New York Times photographer Dave Mills’ images of Trump both before and after the bullet struck Trump’s ear will be juxtaposed with a screen grab of President Joe Biden standing at his debate podium, mouth agape, staring into space.

Were the painter Jacques Louis David living in our era, he might produce something akin to his 1807 painting, The Coronation of Napoleon, which now hangs in the Louvre. The Republican Party’s elders would take the place of Pope Pius VII, standing with their collective mouths open as Trump places the crown on his own head.

The only remaining question is whether there will be a gigantic white bandage bearing the Trump logo covering Trump’s ear. Johnson & Johnson didn’t realize it might be facing a new challenge to its supremacy in the Band-Aid business.

You might skeptically ask, “How far are Trump and his acolytes willing to go in extending the Trump brand to consumer products?” The streets in Downtown Milwaukee offer an answer. Somebody is hawking a Trump-branded breakfast cereal, with posters plastered on light poles, doorways, and fences throughout the downtown. The slogan: “Greatness in Every Box.”

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]

I had some doubts about coming to the coronation, stewing over logistics for weeks. Should I take the train back and forth each day? The last return trip is too early. Should I drive, and stay at a hotel near the airport? Too many vehicular access and parking restrictions in Milwaukee’s downtown. Should I stay downtown? Tough to book a hotel room given all the delegates. Should I stay with family or friends? Too many obligations given that I have no control over what occurs in the streets. Moreover, photography is not a group activity.

Last Friday night I threw in the towel, deciding to throw money at the problem. I chose the Holiday Inn Express at 525 North Jefferson, which is just five or six blocks from Red Arrow Park, the site for today’s counter-rally sponsored by groups opposed to various aspects of the Republican agenda.

My journey into the abyss is costing a small fortune, but I took AMTRAK up from Chicago yesterday, so I incurred minimal transportation costs. I don’t recall security at the AMTRAK station or on the train being so heavy. When I exited the train, I was greeted by at least 12 Homeland Security and other police officers, plus what I assume was a bomb-sniffing dog. Drugs might actually enliven the festivities.

Security. Given Saturday’s attempted assassination, I am expecting heightened security this week. I don’t know whether the authorities actually increased security levels, but when I walked around the downtown last night, I was overwhelmed by the visible security. Police boats cruising the Milwaukee River. This morning one had a black-clad police officer or solider, sitting with an automatic weapon toward the boat’s bow. He waved for the cameras.

There are large vehicle checkpoints throughout the downtown, including one on Wisconsin Avenue where the Pfister Hotel is located and where Trump encamped after being shamed into spending several nights in a “horrible” city. Lots of black Escalades, a yellow plow truck, and a white tent on Jefferson Street designed to hide the protectee as he enters his limousine. The vehicle checkpoints have white metal barriers labeled “Stop” that are lowered for vehicles entering the secure area. Bomb-sniffing police dogs can be seen walking around car perimeters as the drivers wait for the signal to proceed.

Many streets are lined with the now familiar black metal ‘L” shaped fencing. The authorities have positioned concrete barriers in back of the fencing, further hardening the perimeter. There is signage posted warning that “Fence Jumpers” will be prosecuted. Some free legal advice: Don’t assume the Secret Service and Homeland Security operate under the same no-prosecution policies instituted by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. It is a safe bet that fence jumpers will be prosecuted (if not first shot). “This ain’t Lollapalooza.”

Meanwhile, helicopters fly overhead; brigades of bicycle cops race through the streets; motorcycles can be heard as the cycles move through intersections, setting the pick for motorcades ferrying dignitaries to the Fiserv Forum, or to an expensive steakhouse; and police officers from departments as far as Raleigh, North Carolina are standing watch throughout the downtown.

I already have seen two officers from the Chicago Police Department. I was told on Saturday that a large contingency from Chicago is assisting. I asked whether some were doing reconnaissance in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention, but I did not receive a direct response.

Today’s Protest—Generally. A coalition of 120 groups who oppose all or various aspects of the Republican agenda, operating under the moniker Coalition to March on the 2024 RNC, selected today as the day that the Coalition would mobilize its forces. According to an article in the New York Times, the group expected as many as 5,000 people to take to the streets of Milwaukee. The agenda called for a press conference at 10 AM in Red Arrow Park (located on the east side of the river across the street from what in my day was named the Performing Arts Center), a rally at 11:00 AM, and a march at 12:00 AM.

To put it bluntly, the entire affair was poorly organized. The attendance was pathetic. Milwaukee is hosting the Republican National Convention, a major and symbolic national event. Maybe 1,500 people showed up to express their dissatisfaction with Trump and the Republican Party, which means, on average, 12.5 people from each organization decided to attend. That’s being generous. The number is probably closer to 1,000. As the photographs depict, significant swaths of concrete were vacant immediately in front of the speakers’ platform.

In Chicago, the first two Women’s Marches drew thousands of people; the Palestinian Community has put up to 8,000 people in the streets for a march; the Gay Rights Parade attracts somewhere around one million people; and marches opposing Trump’s immigration policies drew 2,000 or more people during his presidential term.

Given the sweltering temperatures, I do give the organizers kudos for having lots of bottled water on hand. Volunteers pulled wagons filled with the bottles, offering it to everyone. I drank three. But not much else was right. All that water eventually has to go somewhere, but the porta-potty situation was abysmal—only one porta-potty, and the toilet included an empty water bottle and leaflets (maybe the unit ran out of toilet paper). Want proof? I have a photograph, but I did not use fill-flash—I will spare my readers, but it is available on request.

One veteran protester from Chicago told me, “This demonstration must have been organized by 20-year-olds. They have no notion of heat stroke.” I spoke with him while standing under a tree casting a cool shadow. There were dozens of other demonstrators with beet-red faces seated under nearby trees.

His remark came after I pointed out that the speakers were droning on. Given the heat, the organizers should have cut the speeches short. Adding insult to injury, the speeches ran over the allotted time—the march started at 12:30 PM.

The press conference was undifferentiated from the rally. A diverse group of speakers spoke, each about his pet cause for three to four minutes, usually with the speaker then leading the meager assembly in a relevant chant. Not everyone need speak. Three different speakers addressed immigration policies, resulting in pointless redundancy.

Obsessed with getting as close to the Fiserv Forum, with thousands of Republican delegates enjoying the building’s air conditioning, the organizers routed the march through streets lined with cement barricades and other security obstacles. This made no sense. In at least one instance, the marchers had to collapse the lead banners. I heard one police officer yelling at people on a bridge about the risk of being crushed against barriers.

While I understand the theoretical significance of being within sight and sound of the convention center, in fact, I saw very few bystanders on the streets, let alone Republican delegates. Probably the most notable one was a young skateboarder who performed an amazing pirouette off a cement barrier across the street from the Riverside Theater. I later saw him doing some serious stretching exercises.

When the marchers returned to Red Arrow Park, someone apparently decided to extend the march, heading north on Water Street. At that point, I said, “Basta,” and looked for some grass under a tree. The marchers eventually returned to Red Arrow Park, but with their numbers significantly depleted.

Today’s Protest—Security and Safety. The City of Milwaukee did a horrible job in terms of protecting the demonstrators. To the extent there were uniformed police visible, they were from the Columbus, Ohio Police Department. In total, they couldn’t have numbered more than 15. I did see a brigade of bicycle cops circling the park, but they were largely unconnected with the demonstration. A horse brigade was standing on a shaded side street just to the east of Red Arrow Park out of sight of the demonstrators. The brigade was not necessarily there to protect the demonstrators—more for crowd control should a riot erupt. The police know that crowds fear large horses, so the police employ the horses to disperse gatherings that turn unruly.

The city was particularly reckless when it came to the march. In Chicago, the bicycle cops ride between the marchers’ side flank and oncoming traffic in adjacent lanes. At major marches, municipal salt and garbage trucks block access from the side streets—cities learned the lesson from Charlottesville, Virginia eight years ago when a speeding car drove into a crowd of demonstrators, killing Heather Heyer and injuring others.

Notably, a similar incident occurred during the annual Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas parade on November 21, 2021, when Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. drove a SUV into the parade, killing six people and injuring 62 others. As I walked with the demonstrators south on Water Street, with no bicycle cops protecting the marches from northbound traffic, I noticed that no salt or garbage trucks had been pre-positioned at intersections to prevent a similar occurrence.

As the cars whizzed past me in the northbound lane, I realized that one Trump supporter seeking retribution for Saturday’s attempted assassination of the former President by Thomas Crooks could easily take out dozens of marchers with just one turn of his steering wheel while applying his foot to the accelerator.

As my images reveal, there were only two uniform police officers accompanying the marchers. The city had left over 1,000 people to fend for themselves.

Toward the end of the march, I ran into a city official wearing a powdered-blue Polo-style shirt and tan khakis. I had seen him circulating with a couple of police officers who appeared as the march wrapped up. As I recall, he indicated he was with the Milwaukee Police Department. We spoke for several moments about the march, and then I asked him why there were no salt trucks protecting the marchers.

He indicated that the march was unauthorized, so the city was providing no support of that nature. I noted that the organizers claimed they had reached an agreement with the city. Responding, he told me in no uncertain terms that there was no agreement despite the claim to the contrary. To a certain extent, his story checks out. The New York Times article refers to an informal, handshake agreement. Apparently only one hand was extended—in lawyer speak, there was no meeting of the minds.

I take issue with both the City of Milwaukee and the organizers. With respect to the city, if the march was unauthorized, the police department should have ordered the marchers to disperse, followed by arrests if the marchers refused to do so. By allowing the march to proceed without adequate safety precautions in place, the city placed the marchers in considerable danger, as demonstrated by the incidents in Charlottesville and nearby Waukesha. Had one of the drivers I saw driven into the line of marchers, there would be a loud chorus demanding that Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the city’s police chief resign. The city would be held in contempt throughout the country, not to mention the countless lawsuits that the city would rightly face.

For a very recent analogue, consider the uproar over the Secret Service’s failure to adequately secure the buildings within eyesight of Trump’s position on the platform. It simply doesn’t matter whether there was an agreement or not: once the city allowed the march to proceed, it had a duty to use standard protocols to protect the marchers.

As for the march organizers: they were equally irresponsible. Given what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania late Saturday afternoon, the march should not have proceeded without adequate security. But as the man in the park noted earlier, paraphrasing, ‘Twenty-year-olds are oblivious.’ Apparently, the city offered alternative routes for the march. The organizers should have accepted one of those. No matter how noble the organizers believe their cause to be, they should not be putting people at risk. And if they want to dispute my characterization, I put into evidence all the security currently in place in Downtown Milwaukee. It is there for a reason.

Today’s Protest—Counter-Demonstrators. Like me, a number of photographers I spoke with expected counter-demonstrators galore, with the possibility of violent clashes between the Trump forces and those the Left. By and large, the counter-demonstrators never materialized.

Three or four evangelicals stood in the southwest corner of Red Arrow Park with large banners. One of them held a bullhorn, yelling very graphic statements—fisting, golden showers, rim jobs, eating fecal matter, molesting children, cutting off genitals, and on and on.

Before I saw the group I heard bits and pieces of the diatribe. To be honest, I thought it was a pro-Gay rights group—the man with the bullhorn hadn’t yet outlined the various acts that he found objectionable.

Except for several extended middle fingers, the demonstrators largely ignored the evangelicals. On the other side of the park, two pro-Israel demonstrators were sprawled out in the shade with homemade signs. Like the evangelicals, they were not doing much business.

I encountered several Trumpers walking through the park. With one notable exception, none were very interesting. The interesting one was a young man with a tee-shirt labeled “Trump 2020, Keep America Great.” He was wearing some sort of silk banner draped over his shoulders.

He first came to my attention as he engaged in a somewhat heated debate with one of the demonstrators. As I watched with camera ready, I wondered whether the two might come to blows. Every five to 10 minutes, I checked back. Over the course of 20 or 25 minutes, the two grew less animated. They were listening to rather than talking past each other. As readers of past posts know, I like when that happens—it makes me hopeful.

I was shocked that there were not many more counter-demonstrators. When I was in Houston four days after the Uvalde mass shooting, a contingent of Proud Boys showed up looking for trouble as hundreds demonstrated outside of the NRA’s annual convention. Today, I saw no Proud Boys or other militia-like groups.

Trump shares one thing in common with the Grateful Dead and its offshoots: caravans of loyalists who follow him from rally to rally. I did not see any campers or buses carrying Trump loyalists, which was surprising given the coronation and the assassination attempt.

I did briefly interact with the evangelical counter-demonstrators, asking why Reuben Israel was not leading their group. Israel characterized himself as a street preacher who traveled the country leading demonstrations against Gay rights, abortion, and related topics. He offered a highly entertaining form of street theater. Gotta give the devil his due. He regularly showed up for Chicago’s annual Gay Rights Parade but was nowhere in sight this year or last.

I was told that Israel died last year. Naturally, I extended my condolences. In the eyes of many, Israel was a a bigoted asshole, but he was still a human and a friend to those holding the banners today. One of the evangelicals told me he now runs Israel’s website, which I believe is associated with the Bible Believers, a group Israel founded.

The Remainder of the Day. After the demonstration wrapped, I walked around the downtown, observing the security, the delegates, and the overall level of activity generated by a convention. First, and foremost, I wanted a cold drink. Much to my surprise, many coffee shops and restaurants were closed, as were some retail establishments.

The streets were largely empty. Covid taught professionals that they could work from home several days a week. I suspect a very high percentage of the accountants, architects, attorneys, insurance brokers, and other white-collar workers chose not to come to their offices this week, even for a day.

The City of Milwaukee created two designated locations during the conventions for First Amendment activities—the city’s version of London’s famed Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. I stopped by both. Not a soul in sight. Another photographer I know also paid a visit to the sites. She saw nothing.

Overall, from a photographic standpoint, the street activity has been disappointing, at least on Day 1. I even discovered a gentlemen’s club just three blocks from the Fiserv Forum. Not a delegate in sight, or anyone else for that matter. Maybe there is an tunnel from the convention center to the club

For dinner, I stopped in one of the nearby bar-restaurants on Water Street. I was one of its few patrons.

In short, unless the level of activity increases tomorrow, I will probably bail.

Copyright 2024, Jack B. Siegel. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Alter, Copy, Display, Distribute, Download, Duplicate, or Reproduce Without the Prior Written Consent of the Copyright Holder.