Hundreds Gather In Milwaukee, Madison To Show Support For Charlottesville Victims

About 300 people held a march Sunday night in Milwaukee to condemn violence at a white nationalist rally Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one person dead and dozens injured.

The marchers chanted opposition to fascism as they walked down streets in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood.

Brian Verdin attended the event and said it’s important to show support for the victims in Charlottesville.

“Because Charlottesville is Milwaukee, is Chicago, is Seattle, U.S.A., America and this could have happened anywhere in U.S.A. where the Nazis, fascists rear their ugly head,” Verdin said.

But he said he isn’t surprised at the violence in Virginia, blaming President Donald Trump’s past rhetoric criticizing some immigrants and other groups. Sunday, the White House condemned white supremacists for starting the violence, after Trump, on Saturday, put the blame for the unrest on “many sides.”

While most of the attendees in Milwaukee were white, Shannon Frye, who is African-American, said people of color have felt oppressed by white power movements for hundreds of years.

“We’ve been colonized, we’ve been victims of genocide, and victims of enslavement, mass incarceration and you know our bodies have been criminalized, made illegal,” Frye said.

Hundreds of people also gathered outside the state Capitol in Madison on Sunday for a candlelight vigil, denouncing the violence. WKOW reports city officials and community members held messages of peace and sang songs of solidarity.