Here’s what happened that night

A lot of things have happened since George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. In Milwaukee, the movement for justice for Trayvon has found great resonance among those of us who have been taking the streets against MPD since the release of the video showing Derrick Williams dying in the back of a squad car. The struggle against white supremacy and the police continues in the streets of Milwaukee. I want to take a moment to focus on a particularly intense moment of that struggle. This moment began shortly after the verdict in the Zimmerman case was read.

The verdict became clear around 10:15pm. By 10:30 there were probably 50 people gathered in Garden Park on Locust and Bremen. There was generally a lot of confusion about what would come next. Some had seemingly settled on taking the streets though others wanted to hold a group discussion about what to do next. Both approaches had their own merits and drawbacks. Those who wanted to march realized that the energy and emotion surrounding the verdict was going to peak at some point and that there was no time to waste. However, without enough people, a plan, and with the cops close by, it seemed fair to question the efficacy of such a march. Those who wanted to talk realized that we were surrounded by police in a neighborhood which was generally apathetic. They also seemed far too eager to lay the groundwork for a leftist circus precisely at the moment when we could act most decisively.

About 25 people ended up taking the street and they headed towards North Avenue for reasons unknown. After about 30 minutes they returned with no arrests. By the time they got back, news had gotten out that there was a gathering on the North side of town in a predominantly black neighborhood. About half of the group that had gathered in Garden Park carpooled over to 38th and Hampton. When we arrived, we were greeted by two people from the community who explained their perspective on the situation. Following their lead we set up a roadblock on one side of the street. Each car driving in our direction was stopped, informed of the verdict, and then allowed to proceed. Most of the people stopped by this ad-hoc roadblock were happy to see us there. Chanting and banners brought people from the surrounding residential areas out onto the corner. Most of them were hesitant to enter the road, but cheered us on from the sidewalk. At around quarter till midnight, the first squad car showed up.

Two white, middle-aged officers got out of the lone squad car and calmly asked the crowd to disperse. No one moved so the police returned to their cruiser and called for back-up. The police looked visibly nervous as the crowd doubled in size to 60 people. As the police waited for back-up, more people joined us on the street. After about 20 minutes, a substantial number of police showed up. A dozen cops gathered opposite our growing — and increasingly rowdy — crowd. They ordered us to disperse. The organizers who had originally called for us to come to the area made it clear that there would be future actions and promptly left the intersection. One of the organizers, however, returned to the crosswalk for reasons unknown. It was then that the police made their move and put the organizer in handcuffs. The enraged crowd began to move forward to de-arrest the organizer.

About a half dozen police officers pulled out their pistols and pointed them into the crowd.

After that, the crowd slowly dissipated and the situation returned to normal.