Bouncing back from an amazing recovery after the shooting incident at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, Donald Trump kicked off the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday by naming his former political nemesis Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.
At the same moment, thousands of protestors representing the entire political spectrum were gathered outside despite Saturday's events.
Groups representing Black Lives Matter, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-war activists demanding a ceasefire in Gaza clashed with their counter-protestors outside the city's Fiserv Forum’s security perimeter.
The Coalition to March on the RNC was set to lead a street march supporting abortion and immigration rights as well as calling for peace in the Middle East.
Gun reform advocates in the crowd used the shooting at Trump's rally to emphasize the need for stricter legislation One protestor held a sign that read “Now Will U Ban Automatic Weapons” and told the Associated Press that it directly referred to what happened at Trump's rally.
“Common sense gun laws are just that. Common sense,” said Peter Wilt of Wisconsin. “The GOP has refused to enact common sense gun laws, in part, because it hasn’t hit home for them.”
The Secret Service announced Monday that security for the RNC had been increased in the wake of Saturday's events, with a notably heavier police presence established around the perimeter of the venue.
Several protestors had traveled from Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention will be held next month, to get a sense of what the crowds would be like. Chicago police have been undergoing training on constitutional policing and preparing for the possibility of mass arrests, the AP reported.
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