After months of anxiety for Americans and furious outbursts from Donald Trump, the former president is set to come to New York City on Monday after his historic indictment, the latest chapter in his shocking political career and turbulent relationship with his hometown.
After flying from his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home, he will stay at Trump Tower on Fifth Ave. in Midtown ahead of the Tuesday afternoon arraignment on charges expected to stem from his hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
New York City has been on edge since the ex-president announced last month that he expected to be indicted, with local authorities receiving unfounded bomb threats and a pro-Trump woman arrested for flashing a knife at passersby outside Manhattan courts.
Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been bombarded with racist emails and death threats, the Daily News reported.
To date, members of the media have far outnumbered pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators outside the Manhattan criminal courts, where Trump will turn himself in, though the authorities have been tightening security ahead of the big day.
As he expected the indictment last month, Trump warned of “death and destruction” if he’s brought up on charges.
Cops are ready to mobilize to either the courts or Trump Tower, the NYPD said last week.
But so far, officers have not been told to come in on their day off to support cops preparing for the potential protests.
A team of Secret Service agents toured the courthouse Friday to plan the former president’s path to and from the site, the Washington Post reported. Dozens of agents are expected at the courthouse during Trump’s arraignment.
Due to security concerns, Trump won’t undergo a notorious perp walk for the arraignment, sources previously told The News.
Court officers at Manhattan Criminal Court are in a “heightened state of readiness,” as they have been for the past two weeks, New York State courts spokesman Lucian Chalfen said Friday.
Trump faces nearly three dozen charges, according to the New York Times and CNN. Trump will find out what’s in the sealed indictment along with the rest of the world when he appears in court on Tuesday.
He plans to plead not guilty on Tuesday.
“He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court,” lawyers Tacopina and Susan Necheles said in a previous statement.
It’s not yet known if State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will allow cameras for the first criminal arraignment of a former president in U.S. history.
Local pols demanded audio and video access on Sunday.
“The public has the right to witness this moment in history,” state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal said at a press conference.
“There is no time to waste in flinging open the doors of the courthouse behind us to the media, to New Yorkers and to Americans,” the Manhattan Democrat added as he touted legislation that would mandate camera access at state courts.
While the extent of this week’s demos could not be known, at least one flame-throwing protester promised to descend upon the city.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she’d join the New York Young Republican Club at a Tuesday protest at Collect Pond Park, paces away from the Manhattan criminal courts.
The Georgia Republican promised to “exercise our First Amendment right” to protest “the unprecedented political persecution of President Trump.”
With Molly Crane-Newman
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