Trumpers plan rally to block his arrest
Donald Trump supporters have called for thousands to join them outside the former president’s estate at Mar-a-Lago to protect him from police after he revealed he expected to be arrested on Tuesday and urged his followers to protest.
Calls for Trump supporters to form a “patriot moat” around the club in Palm Beach, Florida, have appeared on social media since he revealed on his Truth Social platform that he expects to be arrested over hush money payments before the 2016 presidential election to women who alleged sexual affairs with him.
The calls for armed Trump supporters to rally to his defence have raised fears of a confrontation at the gates of Mar-a-Lago if the police try to take him into custody. He would become the first former US president to face criminal charges.
His supporters took to social media to discuss launching violent protests or forming a protective barrier around the Mar-a-Lago estate in his defence, The Daily Beast reported. When one user on The Donald internet forum asked how they should respond if the police used helicopters to enter Mr Trump’s club, others suggested the best type of rifle ammunition to take down lowflying aircraft.
New York prosecutors, led by Alvin Bragg, the Democratic district attorney in Manhattan, have been investigating alleged hush money payments made by Mr Trump to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer, has alleged that he arranged payments totalling $280,000 to cover up affairs with the women before Mr Trump’s 2016 election victory.
Mr Trump, 76, has denied the affairs and any knowledge of the payments, denouncing the investigation as a “witchhunt” intended to derail his campaign to take back the White House next year.
Mr Trump wrote to his usually heavily armed supporters on Truth Social. “Protest, take our nation back.”