(MILWAUKEE, WISC)- On Saturday, a racially motivated attack on Jacksonville Florida’s Black community, left three community members dead, plus the white supremacist who planned the attack using semi-automatic weapons to carry out this hate crime.
In response, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera Action gave the following statement:
“Our hearts go out to the victims and families of the senseless hate crime that took place in Jacksonville, Florida this past weekend. This hate crime is not the actions of an isolated individual but is connected to the larger issue of the rise of white supremacy inspired by Trump and his followers.
The self-identified “party of Trump” has become an authoritarian, anti-democratic, and white supremacist organization. The party represents a modern-day fascist threat and all MAGA aligned candidates must be defeated at the polls in 2024. Florida Governor DeSantis recently passed the worst anti-immigrant law in the country and promoted shooting people who cross the border and military intervention in Mexico during the presidential debate. He and other far right presidential candidates are stoking the flames of hatred against immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ and women, and are fundamentally anti-worker.
The future of Wisconsin, the country, and the international community depends on our efforts in Wisconsin and the handful of swing states in next year’s presidential election.
Voces de la Frontera Action has been organizing statewide the largest growing population and voting bloc in Wisconsin: Latinos and youth. We have built the largest Latinx and youth relational voter network “Voceros por el Voto” in Wisconsin and one of the largest in the country, with 35,000 voters strong, many of them new and infrequent voters.
Our relational voter network has proven successful in rejecting far-right extremism. In November 2022, Voces de la Frontera Action helped defeat MAGA aligned Tim Michels for Governor and in April 2023 helped defeat Dan Kelly for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.
When the margins of victory are so small in elections, we invite others to join or support our organizing so we can continue to grow in scale and turn Wisconsin into a progressive state. We are building power for change and justice, and to put an end to the violence and hate our communities endure.”
