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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