‘Hmong United for Justice’ holds rally in Durand Dec. 5

Members of the Hmong community in Wisconsin attended a peaceful rally December 5 in Durand to call for justice.
A peaceful rally led by Hmong United for Justice, a coalition of students and leaders in the Hmong community, began at noon on Friday in Tarrant Park in Durand and brought participants down Prospect Street to Second Avenue East, down Main Street, and to the District Attorney’s office on Second Avenue West. The group then marched to the Pepin County Government Center, where they gathered outside the Sheriff’s Department.
Spokesperson Mai Shoua Vang, who is from Holmen, is a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna, said the group was started by UW-La Crosse students in collaboration with UW-Eau Claire. It grew to involve UW students from all over the state.
“The group formed about a week before the rally,” she said. “The idea initiated about two weeks before. We just started organizing and asking ourselves, ‘what can we do?’”
Vang said the group wanted a way to voice their opinion, and chose to have a rally.
“Word started getting out, and people got really excited,” she said. “We needed a name for ourselves, and came up with ‘Hmong United for Justice.’”
The purpose of organizing the group, said Vang, was to bring together those who want justice for the Hmong community in Wisconsin.
“On any news reports of the Novemer 5 incident, you see a lot of racism,” she said. “We’re seeing slogans such as ‘save a deer, shoot a hmong’ again.”
Vang said the slogan originated during the Chai Soua Vang proceedings 10 years ago. The November 5 incident refers to the case of Sao Lue Vang allegedly being beaten for trespassing on private land by Kevin Elberg near Pepin. Formal charges were filed December 3, and Elberg is scheduled to appear in court December 15.
“This isn’t even about a Hmong hunter killing a white man,” Vang said. “This is about a beating, and it’s scary that people, hunters, from Wisconsin are saying things like this. Wisconsin has a huge hunting tradition, and we want everyone to be safe.”
Vang said the group wanted to stand up and send a message.
“We’re not going to tolerate racism against the Hmong community anymore,” she said. “We’re going to be alert and respond. This has been going on for a long time, and we’re here to say it’s no longer going to be accepted.”
In total, Vang said about 350 people were somehow involved in the rally. Durand Police Chief Stan Ridgeway said approximately 150 people marched in Durand Friday.
“We had a lot more there in spirit,” Vang said. “This all happened quickly, and a lot of people couldn’t physically make it to be with us.”
Vang said rally participants traveled from the Twin Cities area, Eau Claire, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville, La Crosse, and Madison.
“We have quite a large community, and we had other participants from all over,” she said.
Vang said the rally marched about four miles total.
“We had some very dedicated people,” she said. “It was cold, but not so bad when we were marching and moving around. It took a lot of commitment from people, as we were out there for about three hours. People believe in this cause.”
Vang said the goal was to bring light to the November 5 incident, and a lot of news outlets covered the rally.
In preparing the rally, Vang said the group took every safety measure they could think of, and had a security team with the group.
“As we planned, we discussed worst-case scenarios,” she said. “We made sure to work with the chief of police and sheriff’s department so they knew we were coming and what we had planned.”
Vang said some people were concerned about safety due to the Garner case and Ferguson riots.
“I was surprised, as a coordinator, when I was contacted with concerns,” she said. “We made sure we had guidelines to ensure that everyone, both in Durand and with the rally, was safe. Things like this can fuel a lot of frustration and anger sometimes, but we wanted to use that in a constructive way as a group, rather than individuals acting out.”
Vang said the rally was a non-violent way to say racism is wrong, and to stand up and do something.
“Everyone understood what we were there for, and we had no problems at all,” she said.
Vang also said there were some people from Pepin County and Durand who joined the rally and walked with the group.
“We appreciate them so much,” she said. “This is about doing the right thing, and it was heartwarming for me to get such good support from the community.”