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Following a crowd that violently attacked the Capitol, cities in the United States were on high alert on Sunday, before the January 20 inauguration.
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A strong security presence awaited protesters in cities like Madison, which saw massive pro-Trump protests in 2020.
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See how the day went in Madison.
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MADISON, Wisconsin – In Wisconsin, where freezing temperatures or clouds have never prevented loud political protests and where demonstrations that have attracted thousands of people have been occurring with increasing frequency, Sunday’s expected pro-Trump demonstration was almost none.
Police vehicles and military Humvees were parked all day at the Capitol entrances, a huge dome with four imposing wings.
The ground level windows were closed with plywood planks before the expected protests. Temporary concrete barriers and red impact devices were erected near the entrances. The police had temporarily blocked the streets closest to the Capitol. But morning came and went, just like mid-afternoon, and no Trump flag was in sight.
Only groups of reporters and a few curious residents and students from the nearby University of Wisconsin-Madison strolled in the lightly falling snow. On the park-like lawns between the Capitol wings, who joined the crowd on a cold April day in protest at Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ orders to stay home and wear a mask, and in February 2011 to protest against them – Law 10 orders from Republican Governor Scott Walker, which deprived most public sector officials of their bargaining rights, as well as several other rallies, since then only a few squirrels have been running in the snow.
A few lonely young men – one wearing a vest with plates and the other holding a large plaque that was folded under his arm, circled the Capitol, scowling and looking confused. Someone could be heard complaining on a cell phone that the police were “ready”, and wondering why they were not so prepared for the Black Lives Matter protests.
Two men – on opposite sides of the political spectrum – waited patiently for hours, however, each surprised by the lack of attendance.
Jesse Ransom, 39, said he was there to fight Trump supporters. “They usually arrive around noon,” said Ransom of the pro-Trump rallies he attended. He said he came prepared with a “trauma kit” that he said was designed to treat gunshot or stab wounds.
“I usually show up at the Black Lives Matter protests,” said Ransom, who is white. “A lot of what Trump says doesn’t resonate with me. This rally here is basically supporting fascism and racism for the next four years, and I’m not okay with that.”
Ransom, who wore a dark blue jacket and a green knitted cap, said he was not armed, but feels that his “white privilege” gives him a sense of security. “I can get away with a lot of things and that’s one of the reasons why I’m down here,” he said. “I know I have privileges,” he said, “compared to people of color. I don’t mind driving, like, Trumpers and you know, telling them to leave because I can get away with it.”
Ransom, a mechanical engineer who grew up in Alaska but attended college and has been working in Madison since he was 18, said he thinks there is racism in Wisconsin “as a whole” but says, “Madison is one of the most racist cities in the world. parents.”
“Years ago, I worked at the Dane County Detox and we were here (near the Capitol) feeding the homeless and (then Mayor Paul) Soglin sent his officers with full equipment and they started verifying everyone’s identity. I was like , what the fuck? Why are you doing this, checking the identity of everyone passing through the food lines? And many homeless people are minorities. “
“Here on State St., they mostly like white college students,” said Ransom, pointing to a busy commercial aisle of shops and restaurants that connects Capitol Square to the university campus. “If you’re thinking about sending your kids to school here, you walk up and down State St. When you have homeless people, it doesn’t resonate with the image they want to send.” Now, there are metal sculptures and nails that prevent people from sitting on low walls, he said, all designed to stop the homeless. “This is very racist when you think about it,” he said.
But Ronald Faust, 70, who was also circling the Capitol on Sunday and waiting for protesters to appear, made the opposite observation.
“I think people in Madison are very intolerant of conservatives and conservative thinking,” he said. “I was called a Nazi, I was called a terrorist, I was called a traitor, just for people who passed by,” added Faust, who wears a red MAGA cap that says “Make America Holy Again” on the front and “I’m Going In “at the rear and whose car sports a” Make Babies Great Again “poster as a pro-life statement.
He said the phrase “I’m Going In” is a reference to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school in Florida, where the police allegedly did not enter. “‘I’m coming in’ means that I’m putting myself in danger to help people,” he explained.
Faust, an electronic engineer who lives in Cross Plains, a suburb of Madison, was praying and marching around the Capitol early Sunday, as part of a group called Jericho March.
The group supported Trump, and Faust said he still believes the election was “stolen” from Trump. “There were certainly irregularities,” he said. “I hoped there was something you could actually hang your hat on” to prove it, “he added.” There is something very suspicious about this. “Still, Fausto called last week’s violence at the nation’s Capitol in Washington” deplorable. “
“It’s awful,” he said, adding quickly, “but we think the same about the riots, fires and shootings that have been going on all summer – that too is deplorable.”
He said he does not think Trump has incited last week’s riots, and believes that people started breaking into the Capitol before the president finished speaking to the public that day.
As for the president’s previous calls for his supporters to “fight” and “stop the theft,” said Fausto, “politicians have been gathering crowds since time immemorial. If every politician who gathered a crowd with some fiery speech was prevented from going to the Capitol, it would be empty. “
As for the accusations of racism among Trump’s supporters, Faust says he saw “not at all” in his group. He speculated, however, that in general, “the rhetoric about racism is now more inflamed.”
Racism was “on the run” and “in its dead coals,” he said, citing gains such as school choice initiatives and criminal justice reform. “These were a great gift to the black community. There has been a lot of progress being made. I think the dead embers of racism are being ignited by those who see a way to benefit from them – that is power and they will use all means necessary to get it – it’s sad, “he said.
At 4:30 pm, when the snow faded to a mix of rain and the sky darkened, three young men carrying rifles and an American flag with 13 stars in a circle appeared, but were discouraged away from the empty sidewalks in front of the Capitol.
The police had already removed the barricades from the street. The news teams were preparing to leave.
The Humvees rolled at 5 sharp.
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