The last two years has seen a resurgence of seemingly organized white supremacist activity in the areas surrounding Milwaukee. In Waukesha, such groups have ridden a wave of anger and mourning around the Christmas parade tragedy.
Protests and rallies held in the wake of the Christmas parade tragedy featured signs with messages like, “Stop BLM Terror,” “Stop anti-white hate,” and “Justice for Waukesha.” Some protesters called for hate crime charges against Brooks. People at one rally represented a mix of members of established white power groups. Images of the rally surfaced in a 400 gigabyte leak of materials from a Patriot Front chat server, a group which promotes neo-facist and white nationalist ideologies. The leaks were published by the independent media outlet Unicorn Riot in January.
One group represented at the rally was the National Justice Party (NJP), which formed in August 2020 and describes itself as an advocate for “white civil rights, the working and middle class and the traditional family.” Members identified themselves with buttons at the rally. Patriot Front was also linked to the Waukesha rally. Recently, the NJP began promoting a documentary called “Terror in Waukesha,” describing Brooks as a “black terrorist.” Law enforcement in Waukesha, however, have rejected the notion that parade tragedy was an act of terror.
Those same phrases were featured in white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. White power groups chanted the phrases as they marched with lit torches through the city’s streets during violent clashes that ended in one anti-racist protester’s death and many injuries.
Wisconsin’s long-standing ties to white supremacy
For some, the prevalence of this activity isn’t surprising. Milwaukee, known as one of the nation’s most segregated areas, is home to nearly 70% of Wisconsin’s Black population. In the city of Milwaukee, 64.2% of the population is white, followed by 27.2% for Black residents, 15.6% for Hispanics and 4.7% for residents of Asian descent.
The suburbs of Milwaukee have long-standing histories of discrimination. Wauwatosa, for instance, was a restrictive-zoning city where Black home ownership was actively discouraged for decades. Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington are mostly white, heavily Republican counties west, north, and northwest of Milwaukee respectively.