Protesters Gather to March in Milwaukee as R.N.C. Opens

By Mitch Smith, Robert Chiarito and Julie Bosman, The New York Times

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, protest organizers said their rally would proceed as expected. Law enforcement authorities said they were prepared.

A crowd of left-leaning demonstrators gathered Monday morning in a downtown Milwaukee park, prepared to proceed with a march on the first day of the Republican National Convention. The attempted assassination of former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday, protest organizers said, had not changed their demonstration plans, which had been in the works for months.

The gathering at Red Arrow Park on a sunny, humid morning included several hundred protesters drawn by a range of causes, including Palestinian rights, support for Ukraine and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, as well as general fear about the country’s future in a second Trump administration.

“I came down to get encouraged,” said one protester, Ron Graef, 69, of suburban Milwaukee. “I’m hoping Trump doesn’t get in, because this country and world will be in trouble.”

The gathering came as thousands of convention delegates, journalists and Republican officials arrived in Milwaukee for the four-day event, which was unfolding a few blocks from the park where protesters gathered. Many law enforcement officers, including police officers on bikes, were posted in or near the park. Some counterprotesters gathered nearby.

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