MILWAUKEE — The Village of Kewaskum has canceled a planned vote for Wednesday night on whether to implement a travel advisory, which would have warned residents against traveling to the City of Milwaukee during the Democratic National Convention, after the Village President was threatened over the matter, according to a Village Trustee.
Village Trustee Dave Spenner has withdrawn his proposal for the advisory, and the meeting will no longer be held, he told TMJ4 News.
The travel advisory would have recommend that residents in the Village of Kewaskum avoid all non-essential travel to the DNC host city from the night before the convention starts, Aug. 16, until the night after the convention ends, Aug. 21.
Spenner was the one to originally propose the travel advisory. He is a former Milwaukee police officer, and once served as Racine's chief of police, and he says he doesn't want the people he represents to travel to Milwaukee while the DNC is ongoing.
"We know that protests are likely to occur," said Trustee Spenner before the announcement to cancel was made. "It's really not a question, in my mind, about who's right and who's wrong. It's just that under these circumstances, I believe that the city is going to be overwhelmed and it's not the right time for recreational travel to Milwaukee."
Trustee Spenner points to images of, what he calls, dangerous protests and civil unrest to justify his calls for the warnings, saying Police can only do so much to prevent violence.
"I think that they're going to do the best that they possibly can," said Trustee Spenner.
Earlier in the day, MPD released a statement saying, "The Milwaukee Police Department remains committed to preparing for a safe, secure and successful Democratic National Convention."
Even if the proclamation would have passed, the travel advisory would only serve to warn citizens of the risk of traveling to Milwaukee, according to Trustee Spenner.
"It's an advisory. There's no consequence," said Trustee Spenner. "I understand that there [are] people need to go to Milwaukee on a regular basis and even through this same process, I think that it will encourage them to thoughtfully consider their routes, the timing of it, what time of day that they go into these things."
During a press conference in Milwaukee Wednesday morning, Mayor Tom Barrett declined to comment on the proposed travel advisory.
Kewaskum is approximately 40 miles from the city of Milwaukee.
