Oshkosh Farmers Market drops Democratic Party booth

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WISS) – Complaints about materials, some classified as “hate speech,” led the Oshkosh Farmers Market and the Winnebago County Democratic Party to part ways for now. That means there will be no Winnebago County Democratic Party tent in the Oct. 18 or Oct. 25 markets.

The story behind the story

At a recent Oshkosh Farmers Market, someone at the Winnebago County Democratic Party’s booth handed a young child a bracelet. That bracelet said, “Is he dead yet?”. A sentiment that the child’s mother saw as hate speech directed toward U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Wisconsin Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany released a statement this week on the incident.

“Last month, Charlie Kirk was tragically assassinated due to political violence, and it is appalling that a Wisconsin Democrat County Party would continue to spread hate and incite further violence. Wisconsin is better than this. I call on the Wisconsin Democrat Party to revoke this person’s party membership and ensure they are never involved in future events,” said Congressman Tiffany.

Oshkosh Farmers Market response

Michelle Schmid-Schultz, the market manager for the Oshkosh Farmers Market, said she has fielded hundreds of calls and social media comments about the bracelet, the Democrats, and the booth since Saturday. The farmers market and the Winnebago County Democrats have spoken, and the booth will not be at the final two markets of the season.

“At this point, the Winnebago Democratic Party will not have a booth at the remaining Oshkosh Farmers Markets,” Schmid-Shultz said. “And the board will be reviewing and considering revision of the current market policies to prevent any similar incidents from taking place in the future.”

Other Responses

The Winnebago County Republican Party has made several Facebook posts on the incident, collecting over 200 comments combined.  

The Winnebago County Democratic Party has not returned WISS’s phone call, nor has the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. In other news reports, the state party’s Communications Director, Philip Shulman, stated, “The materials brought by a volunteer without the authorization of the Party are not in line with our values, and we regret this happened.”