Coalition to March on the RNC (CMRNC)

In June 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of CMRNC, claiming that Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s decision to restrict CMRNC’s planned march near the 2024 Republican convention site is unconstitutional. ⁴

CMRNC has worked with the far-left Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (SDS at UWM), ⁴ the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, the left-of-center Voces de la Frontera, and the socialist American Party of Labor to protest the first day of the RNC in 2024. ⁵

History and Leadership

Coalition to March on the RNC has marched in protest of the Republican National Convention (RNC) since the 2008 RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota. ² It organized marches against the RNC in 2012 in Tampa, Florida, and in 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. ³

Omar Flores and Aurelia Ceja are the co-chairs of CMRNC. ^{6 7}

Activities and Funding

Coalition to March on the RNC is a coalition of left-of-center activist organizations that protest and march against the Republican National Convention (RNC). ¹

CMRNC has called the Republican Party “racist and reactionary.” ⁸ The organization supports expansive abortion access, immigrants, and the far-left concept of equity and stands with the Palestinian territories in the ongoing war with Israel following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. ^{3 3}

In June 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the CMRNC, claiming that Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s decision to declare an “extraordinary event ordinance” and restrict  CMRNC’s planned march near the RNC site ⁴ is unconstitutional. ² The coalition’s leaders argued that the area where they are allowed to protest is not close enough to the Fiserv Forum location where the convention is expected to take place. ⁹

CMRNC has sought to work with as many groups as possible to march against the RNC. In 2024, the coalition has worked with the far-left Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (SDS at UWM), ⁴ the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America, the left-of-center Voces de la Frontera, and the socialist American Party of Labor to protest the first day of the RNC. ⁵

On August 2023, CMRNC marched against a Republican National Committee presidential primary debate, ¹⁰ attacked the center-right Leadership Institute, and called the right-of-center Moms for Liberty a hate group. ¹¹

CMRNC opposes the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S Department of Homeland Security investigation of on-campus student organizations with alleged ties to terrorist organizations in the Middle East and has claimed that Republicans promote a racist agenda that fuels hate crimes across the United States. ¹²

Affiliated Organizations

The Coalition to March on the RNC has been endorsed by the socialist American Party of Labor, Baltimore Peace Action, the Black Youth Project, Centro CSO, the Climate Alliance of the South Sound, the Climate Justice Committee, Code Pink, the Democratic Socialists of America of Milwaukee, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Freedom Socialist Party, the International League of Peoples Struggle, the Legalization for All Network, Midcoast MKE, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council AFL-CIO, the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, the Movement for People’s Democracy, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the far-left Never Again Action, Our Wisconsin Revolution, the Party of Communists USA (PCUSA), RePower, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, the Sierra Club, the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, Starbucks Workers United, Students for a Democratic Society, the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Voces de la Frontera Action, the Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement, Women for Racial and Economic Equality, and others. ¹³

Funding

The Coalition to March on the RNC receives its funding through CashApp donations. ^{14 15}

In June 2024, CMRNC hosted a drag show fundraiser to raise funds for the materials it needs to march against the Republican National Convention. ¹⁶