Electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn will break ground June 28 with an event expected to draw the attendance of President Donald Trump, Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. The event also will bring many demonstrators to Mount Pleasant.
A coalition of nearly 40 organizations will launch a mass demonstration — Operation: Shake the Ground! — to object to the misuse of public funds, seizing of private property, siphoning of Lake Michigan water, as well as other environmental threats.
A news release announcing the protest called the Foxconn project a "boondoggle" "passed by an unrepresentative state Legislature, politically motivated to boost the governor’s re-election bid.
Operation: Shake the Ground! will begin with a rally at Smolenski Park, where landowners and residents will speak about the government's use of eminent domain, zone rulings, changes in local transportation and local governance.
Protesters then will march to Mt. Pleasant Village Hall for a second rally, "featuring voices from all over the state concerned with the economic, political, social and environmental repercussions from the Foxconn deal and the corrupt legislative body that approved it."
Also, voter registration will take place.
The initiative was started and led entirely by student/youth leaders from 350 Stevens Point and the Gaia Coalition Network and nearly 40 student and community organizations from throughout Wisconsin have formed a statewide coalition to oppose Foxconn, Walker and political corruption in the state.
The core team consists of landowners and residents of Mount Pleasant, Racine and Kenosha; students and youth leaders; environmentalists; civil rights advocates; interfaith communities; transportation advocates; public school teachers; UW professors; union workers; farmers; and indigenous leaders.
The protest is scheduled to start at noon on June 28, but the time could change depending on when the groundbreaking takes place.
The pavilion at Smolenski Park is at 438 S. Stuart Road in Mt. Pleasant.
The organizations involved in the event as of June 22 include:
350 Stevens Point
Gaia Coalition Network
Our Wisconsin Revolution
DPW Progressive Caucus
350 Milwaukee
350 Madison
UW-Oshkosh SDS
UWM The Flood
UWGB PEAC
UW-Waukesha Ecology Club
UW-Parkside PEC
UW-Whitewater SAGE
Family Farm Defenders
Forward Kenosha
Wisconsin Wolf Front United
Indigenous Warrior Society of Wisconsin
Peace Action Wisconsin
Milwaukee DSA
Forward Action Medics of MKE
Wisconsin Network for Peace, Justice, and Sustainability
Sunrise Movement SE Wisconsin
Water Protectors of Milwaukee
Southeastern Wisconsin NORML
Building Unity
A Better Mt. Pleasant
Indivisible Madison
Grassroots Northshore
UWM Community Uprise
The Video Hub
Wisconsin Grassroots Network
Welfare Warriors
Sousaphones Against Hate
Greater Milwaukee Green Party
Protectors of the Menominee River
Sunrise Menomonie
Portage Democratic Party
Stevens Point Area Green Party
Waukesha County Environmental Action League (WEAL)
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