OFFICIALS PREPARE FOR TRUMP PROTESTS
Possible indictment brings stepped-up N.Y. police presence
Law enforcement officials said Monday they were preparing for possible unrest related to the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump, who could face criminal charges in Manhattan as soon as this week.
In places including New York, Atlanta and Palm Beach, Fla., authorities reviewed their options to respond to demonstrations after Trump over the weekend called for protests to oppose what he called his looming arrest. Trump’s language echoed his rhetoric before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Prosecutors in Manhattan are believed to be considering charging Trump with falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money payment his lawyer made to an adult-film star in 2016. Trump, who would become the first former president charged with a crime, has denied any wrongdoing and assailed the probe as politically motivated.
A grand jury is examining the issue, but no decision has been announced, and it remains unknown when or if the panel will indict Trump.
The case has emerged as an unlikely inflection point for both Trump, who has announced his candidacy in the 2024 race, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who finds himself as perhaps the most prominent prosecutor in the country.
In New York, law enforcement and court officials have sought to plot out security
measures and logistics for a former president’s possible first court appearance on criminal charges.
They are expected to try to figure out how to manage a potential throng of demonstrators who might surround the Lower Manhattan courthouse where he could appear. Signs of preparation were visible outside the building, as metal barricades were seen being unloaded and erected nearby.
New York authorities
were not aware of any credible threats on Monday night, according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private meetings. Local authorities had a meeting Monday to discuss planning but were not given any specific information about when the charges could possibly come, the official said.
A person with knowledge of security discussions said there is expected to be an increased New York police
presence around the courthouse beginning today.
“They’re worried about the demonstrators both proTrump and anti-Trump, and just wackos on the street,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to convey parts of a confidential discussion. “They see this as an opportunity to attack somebody.”
But a Trump arrest would also reverberate across the country, raising the potential of other demonstrations.
Trump supporters have called for rallies and events to support him, including in New York and Palm Beach on Monday and in Phoenix today.
Trump’s demand for protests has circulated online, with users on some extremist forums eagerly echoing his call. Some users called for violence against Bragg, the first Black person elected Manhattan district attorney, and others in law enforcement. They also proposed ways to block authorities from arresting Trump.
Much of the exchange unfolded on a popular proTrump site that hosted planning for the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021, with some commenters explicitly invoking that attack. Some of the messages included lurid descriptions of destruction and political retribution, including the need to “burn the GOVERNMENT to the ground” and ransack “blue” parts of the country.
But they appeared not to include “specific plans to engage in large-scale violence,” according to Daniel J. Jones, president of Advance Democracy, a nonprofit group that tracks extremism. Jones said Trump’s calls for protest “have led to threats of violence against government officials and law enforcement.”
Some far-right groups appear to be urging caution based on what happened on and after Jan. 6. In some postings on Telegram chats, people were urging others not to protest, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online extremism. In one post, a user called the situation a trap and referred to Jan. 6 by saying: “Remember what happened the last time Trump called for a protest? He threw everyone under the bus.”
Bragg, in a message to his office over the weekend, seemingly alluded to Trump’s calls for protests and told staffers that “your safety is our top priority.” Law enforcement officials would make sure “that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated,” Bragg wrote in the message, which was first reported by Politico.