As the old saying goes, if it looks like a fascist, walks like a fascist, and talks like a fascist, chances are it is a fascist. The most difficult part of writing this article was not finding evidence of Wisconsin Republicans’ embodiment of fascism but rather deciding which examples to use. And this was just Wisconsin Republicans, imagine the endless examples if we examined all Republicans. We must not shy away from calling Republicans what they have become: fascists.

Evers’ maps “give Democrats only a 17% chance of winning half of all Assembly seats with 50% of [the] state vote”, meaning these maps still will not result in electoral outcomes that represent the actual votes cast. A representative democracy means that if you win 50% of the vote, you should win 50% of the seats. Instead, under Evers’ maps, what should be a guaranteed outcome is only a faint possibility.

While efforts to gather, hold each other safe, and defend our city are vital and encouraging, they don’t address the core problem: this should never have happened. We cannot let the people who put us at risk off the hook. The community response to the RNC needs to include holding the elected officials who invited the fascists here responsible for what goes down during their party in our city.

Beginnings are hard. Some of them you’re forced into: being born, your first day at school, the first time you have to pay your own rent. This is different: we’re voluntarily starting something new, we aren’t sure how it will go, but we hope it’s worth the effort.