Marshals

The protests consists of dozens of different unions, people from different cities across the state, and various groups. When that many people are gathered in one place safety and security are obvious concerns. To handle that, the police have brought in hundreds of deputies from across the state. However, they are not the only people there handling security and safety concerns. AFSCME, in conjunction with the other unions, the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and Advancing Wisconsin, has organized volunteer marshals. They are not security personal, they are volunteers who help protesters get enthused, organized, and defuse situations. They are the people walking around in reflective vests leading people in chants. They direct the flow of traffic, they stand next counter-protesters to prevent a crowd from forming, and try to make this protests as positive as possible. These people have become a vital part of the movement.


The people who are marshals are a diverse lot. Fred, a retired teacher, is to stand in solidarty with current teachers; Bob is from St. Louis, Mo., works for American Federation of State County Municipal Employees and came up to volunteer and help the organizers of the protest; Tylon is an international student and a member of the Teacher Assistant Association; and Nicole is non-unionized nurse, who could not stand by and not act when the unions were under assualt. They are there because they want to make this protest work, they want to make sure that this is a positive message.


Fox News has focused itself on the signs comparing Walker to Hitler and Mubarak. The marshals request that people not show those signs and politely request that they be removed. We cannot demand that they not have those as we strongly believe in First Amendment rights. However, the number of those has drastically decreased while the number of protesters has increased. They have effectively reduced those signs.


When counter protesters walk through with signs support Walker, criticizing the unions and teachers, and being confrontational the marshals will encourage people to keep moving, to not engage. They have a right to be there, but once we ignore them, they usually leave. However one impressive sight was those counter-Protesters were rarely engaged by the pro-union people. They ignored them. They didn't acknowledge them.


With massive crowds of people the marshals often served as guides. Encouraging people to walk in the appropriate direction. This traffic control made the rallies and marches more effective and safer. When massive crowds converge and don't move, people can get hurt.


One day police officers approached the marshals and thanked them. The next day ,a letter to the editor stated that the reason way the protests were so peaceful was not due to the police officers, but due to the marshals. Police officers can be intimidating to some and people may react badly to a well intentioned officer simply trying to defuse a situation. However, a volunteer inserting themselves are more effective, because they are also protesting and they are there for similar reasons.