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The murder of a 60-year-old black supporter of President Donald Trump in Milwaukee last week just hours after he gave an interview to local media has led to calls for a federal investigation from Wisconsin lawmakers.
Bernell Trammell was shot and killed at the same location where he was interviewed, explaining why he supports the president, leading local police to suspect the murder may have been politically motivated.
Some Wisconsin Republicans have the same suspicions and they want the U.S. Department of Justice to look into it.
“Because of Trammell’s well-known political activism and the possibility that his murder could be politically motivated, I respectfully request that United States Attorney Matthew Krueger open an investigation,” Andrew Hitt, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said late last week following the murder.
He was known for carrying hand-drawn signs saying “Vote Donald Trump 2020” on the streets of Milwaukee, as well as posting them to his storefront.
“No American should fear for their personal safety because of where they live or their political affiliation,” Hitt added.
Dan O’Donnell, a talk show host at WISN, reported that law enforcement officials could not comment on whether or not the killing was politically motivated because no suspects have been identified or arrested.
“He had spent the past few weeks advocating for Trump’s re-election in his neighborhood and in front of City Hall in downtown Milwaukee and engaged people who would react to his message,” O’Donnell noted.
Police said that Trammell, a Rastafarian street preacher, was shot around 12:30 Friday in front of his business, Expression Publications.
He was a familiar person in the city’s Riverwest neighborhood, where he would ride a bike or walk with signs supportive of the president and his religious and political beliefs.
“He had a lot of different views,” Adebisi Agoro, a local writer. told The Post. “But it was his last view that made people be outrageous with him.”
Agoro said that residents opposed to Trammell’s views were increasingly vocal on Facebook and other social media. On Monday, a man followed Trammell around holding a sign that said, “Sike,” which is local slang for “not!” or “as if.”
Agoro added that while Trammell “didn’t have internet, he didn’t have a phone, he didn’t have a dime to his name, he got his message out.”
“He was just a community figure,” Agoro said. “I respected him because he had a position. He’s got his opinion on why he feels that way, and I’m not going to knock him.”
Hitt said that a new Republican outreach office that was opened earlier this year as a way to make inroads with black voters is located a few blocks from where Trammell was killed.
“This is personal,” he told The Post.
Local residents remembered Trammell as a peace-loving man who was easy-going.
“The guy was just full of love,” resident Dick Nelson told Fox 6.
Trammell’s murder also got the attention of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
“Bernell Trammell was known to many in Milwaukee. My condolences to his family and friends,” he wrote on Twitter.
Bernell Trammell was known to many in Milwaukee. My condolences to his family and friends. I hope they get answers and justice soon. https://t.co/XciQwmlMuJ
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) July 25, 2020
Notably, while Trammell’s murder has gotten the attention of Republican lawmakers on the state and federal level, the Marxist-oriented Black Lives Matter movement has not commented.
Where is Black Lives Matter outrage at the death of Bernell Trammell?
If you vote for a Democrat like Joe Biden because of "racism" then you are still slaves. Free men have free speech and freedom of thought. Bernell was a free man in the land of the free. Rest in peace, brother pic.twitter.com/5w6vVsX1vt
— Ⓑuild Ⓑack Ⓒooler (@BBCPropaganda) July 24, 2020
That said, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Trammell also supported the BLM movement as well as “progressive Democrat Lena Taylor in her run for mayor.”
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