Outside the 2024 Republican National Convention
The convention was held in Milwaukee on July 15th to July 18th and just two days after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee. Trump would ultimately go on to accept the Republican party’s nomination for a third consecutive time. On the first day of the convention, Trump announced J.D. Vance would be his nominee for Vice President. With a large bandage on his ear, Trump accepted the party’s nomination for President on the 4th day of the convention.
Security around the convention was unprecedented. Following the assassination attempt, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said they believed the secure perimeter around the Fiserv Forum was likely larger than any previous convention in history. More than 4,000 officers from agencies around the country travelled to Milwaukee to assist in security plans they said they were confident in.
Protest activity that is common at national conventions was notably much calmer than previous years. A long planned march toward the secure perimeter brought over a thousand protesters on day 1 as protesters marched in support of various causes holding signs reading “Lock him up!”, “Stop Trump & Racist Republicans”, “Defend Women’s Rights” and “Free Palestine”. Throughout the week there was very few other organized protests.
On the second day of the convention, officers with the Columbus Police Department shot and killed Samuel Sharpe Jr. a few blocks away from the secure perimeter. Authorities have said the officers were not on patrol outside the perimeter but were being briefed when they saw a man with a knife going after another in the street. Body camera footage was released days later.
These are my photos from what I saw in Milwaukee.
Photographer: Chad Davis / chad@chaddavis.photography
