2024 Republican National Convention

The 2024 Republican National Convention took place July 15 to 18 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, marking the first time the city had hosted a major party's national convention. The four-day event formally nominated Donald Trump and JD Vance as the Republican presidential and vice-presidential ticket.

Milwaukee's selection was part of a deliberate Republican strategy to compete in Wisconsin, a battleground state that had swung between parties in recent presidential cycles. The convention was designated a National Special Security Event, bringing together the Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, Coast Guard, and local law enforcement to manage a multi-block security perimeter around the arena and its surrounding streets. Concrete barriers arrived days before proceedings began, vehicle checkpoints went up outside hotels including the historic Pfister, and temporary fencing enclosed the Milwaukee County Historical Society within the secured zone.

Outside the perimeter, the convention drew a range of organized opposition. The March on the RNC brought together antiwar coalitions, environmental groups, labor organizations, and pro-Palestine demonstrators, who crossed the Wells Street Bridge and gathered along streets bordering the restricted zone. Smaller counter-voices came in individual forms as well, from mobile billboard trucks to a Penzey's spice shop window sign. Trump supporters held their own rallies nearby.

The convention also produced a moment of serious consequence when five Columbus, Ohio police officers who had traveled to Milwaukee for the event shot and killed Samuel Sharpe Jr. during an altercation on the city's north side, leaving a street memorial that drew community mourning throughout the remaining convention days.

This set is part of an ongoing series documenting American political conventions and the activism, security, and street-level life that surround them.