MILWAUKEE (AP) — People will be allowed to carry weapons within blocks of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next month and protesters will be allowed two phases, one within sight of the convention arena, under a security plan that local and federal law enforcement authorities released Friday.
The plan comes in the wake of a federal lawsuit demanding that protesters be allowed within sight and hearing range of the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee.
The plan calls for two roughly circular perimeters stretching for blocks around the arena. Vehicles will have to pass through checkpoints to travel between the two borders. Pedestrians are allowed to move freely in that area without being screened. Only conference goers are allowed within the inner perimeter.
No weapons of any kind will be allowed within internal borders, but people will be able to carry weapons openly or concealed elsewhere as permitted under state law. Wisconsin statutes only prohibit machine guns, short-barreled shotguns, and silencers.
“It’s about behavior,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said. “So understand that there will be a level of scrutiny and oversight that that is the specific right that you wish to express. Just don’t do anything that could be considered a threat or harm to the public.”
So far, more than 100 organizations have registered to demonstrate at the convention, Nick DeSiato, chief of staff to Mayor Cavalier Johnson, said at a news conference.
The Coalition to March on the RNC, a group of local and national organizations including the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, immigrant advocacy group Voces de La Frontera and the American Party of Labor, has planned a protest parade on the first day of the convention.
The coalition claims it has been trying to obtain a permit for the parade since April 2023, but city officials have still not granted it. The city has also been slowly clearing a parade route, the coalition claims, raising concerns that the city will not allow protesters within sight of the arena.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the coalition on June 5, claiming the delay in releasing a route amounts to a denial that violates the coalition’s free speech rights.
The ACLU has asked U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig to issue a temporary injunction forcing the city to designate a route within sight and hearing of the arena and immediately process the coalition’s permit applications. Ludwig has scheduled a scheduling conference for the case on Monday.
The safety plan authorities released Friday establish a parade route just inside the far southern edge of the outer perimeter, about five blocks from the arena, with a stage for speakers within the route.
Asked if he believes the route will satisfy the coalition, DeSiato said it runs along the inner perimeter fence and was as close as authorities could get protesters to the arena when considering exit points and emergency vehicle access. He said setting up the route was a “very complicated mathematical problem.”
The plan also creates a stage for protest speakers at the northern edge of the perimeter, about a block away from the Fiserv Forum.
DeSiato said the city will provide a sound system for the speakers on both stages, but each speaker will be limited to 20 minutes to ensure everyone gets a chance to talk.
ACLU attorney Tim Muth said in a statement that the organization was “surprised and disappointed” by the sheer size of the inner perimeter. The large radius makes it more important that the city allow free speech and assembly, he said, and he vowed to continue the lawsuit.
“We hope for a quick ruling that will endorse the coalition’s plan for a march that passes within sight and sound of the Fiserv Forum,” he said.
