Bernell Trammell: Milwaukee Black Trump supporter, 60, shot dead, Republicans call for federal investigation
State Republicans are calling for a federal investigation into the shooting death of a black Trump supporter in Milwaukee. Authorities revealed that 60-year-old Bernell Trammell was gunned down by an unknown assailant on Thursday afternoon. The dreadlocked Trump fan was known for carrying handmade Trump 2020 signs through the streets and posting them on his storefront on the sidewalk.
“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 on Friday. “No American should fear for their personal safety because of where they live or their political affiliation,” Hitt added.
Trammell was a regular fixture in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood and was often spotted pedaling a bicycle or walking the streets with signs reflecting his religious or political beliefs. Speaking to New York Post, local writer Adebisi Agoro revealed how the passionate activist had "a lot of different views."
According to Agoro, Trammell's pro-Trump signage was stirring up outrage on Facebook pages in the neighborhood. The elderly firebrand was followed around town on Monday by a man holding a sign reading "Sike” to counter his message.
Trammell “didn’t have internet, he didn’t have a phone, he didn’t have a dime to his name,” Agoro said. “But he got his message out.” "He was a positive guy," he continued. "I didn't see him being mean or violent at all toward anybody while he was outside with his signs. He'd be on his bike. I'd see him pretty much daily."
Hitt said a new GOP outreach office inaugurated earlier this year is just blocks from the building where Trammell lived and was shot to death.
“This is personal,” Hitt asserted to The Post.
In the face of silence from the city’s police department, the former Milwaukee prosecutor approached the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Friday. “I know how these investigations work,” he said. “The lack of information is concerning. We don’t know any of the circumstances of how he was murdered.”
Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention Director Reggie Moore said the unit was aware of at least one public dispute over Trammell's pro-Trump signage. “He’s a black elder who didn’t deserve to die the way that he did,” Moore said, adding that the way Trammell was killed, "in front of his home and in front of his shop in broad daylight, is extremely troubling."
Agoro had filmed an interview with Tramell about his support for Trump just hours before his death on Thursday. “I believe that Trump is the sign of the times,” Trammell said in the clip, adding that the president's respect for rapper Kanye West and disgraced former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman "made him a worthy candidate."
“This is going to be a motivating factor for us as we organize in central Milwaukee and across Wisconsin,” Hitt said. “I think it will give folks in the black community who support the president’s message more resolve and more determination than ever.”