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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the July 27, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Milwaukee protests Bush

By Phil Wilayto

Milwaukee

Texas Gov. George W. Bush's July 17 campaign stop in Milwaukee was met by demonstrators condemning the execution of Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham and calling for an immediate end to the death penalty.

It was Bush's first visit to Wisconsin since Sankofa's June 22 execution. That state-sponsored lynching met with worldwide condemnation.

While Bush wined and dined at a $500-per-plate Republican Party fundraiser at the Midwest Express Center, over 70 people kept up a loud and spirited picket line outside. They chanted, "Gov. Death, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!"

Ten people held up large signs spelling out the name "Gary Graham." A banner read, "Bush, Gore, Clinton: Abolish the racist death penalty!"

All the local media covered the protest. But as soon as reporters left to hear Bush's speech inside, police moved to shut down the protesters' sound system.

When organizers argued that they had a constitutional right to free speech and had used the system dozens of times before, cops seized the equipment and arrested student activist Bryan Pfeifer.

A delegation went to the police station to support Pfeifer while the protest continued. He was released with a municipal citation.

The protest was called by the A Job Is A Right Campaign. Other participating groups included Muhammad Mosque No. 3, AFL-CIO Union Summer organizers and interns, Justice for Janitors members, the Latino organizations Federation for Civic Action and Education for the People, Casa Maria Catholic Worker, Milwaukee Greens, Workers World Party and several religious activists.

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