Day 10 of Milwaukee’s protests, sparked by the death of George Floyd, began with a march organized by the Milwaukee Bucks that brought an estimated 7,500 people to the city’s lakefront on Sunday.
Among the demonstrators were Bucks majority owner Marc Lasry, president Peter Feigin, senior vice president Alex Lasry, and a number of players including Sterling Brown, Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Robin and Brook Lopez, Wesley Matthews and Ersan İlyasova.
The Bucks said the 1.5-mile march, from the plaza outside Fiserv Forum to Veterans Park, was held to support social justice.
“We making something great happen, we making something positive happen that is heard around the world,” said Bucks player Sterling Brown as part of brief remarks he made before the march began. “You got different countries coming together and fighting and standing for something. As we march today, let’s be loud, let’s be heard, let us be know.
In 2018, Brown was arrested by a group Milwaukee police officers over a parking violation in a Walgreens parking lot. During the arrest, the officers forced Brown to the ground and tased him several times. The incident sparked an internal investigation, and a civil right lawsuit against the city that is still pending.
Leading the march alongside the Bucks were Nate Hamilton, the brother of Dontre Hamilton, who was killed by a Milwaukee Police officer in 2014, and local activist Frank Nitty.
Police Chief Alfonso Morales and other Milwaukee police officers also joined the group, but departed Veterans Park after being confronted by protesters about recent controversy surrounding crowd control tactics during demonstrations.
Peaceful demonstrations continued across the city Sunday afternoon, with an accessible march for people of all abilities and a Pride march for Black Lives Matter. Protesters from the Bucks’ march spilled into both those groups.
By early evening, people from all three groups had merged into a smaller march, which continued around downtown Milwaukee and eventually headed north out of the city via Oakland Avenue.
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