Former President Donald Trump’s supporters are far outnumbered in New York City ahead of his potential arrest Wednesday, despite the Republican’s call for his voters to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST.”
Demonstrators cheering on the potential indictment against Trump gathered outside the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, drowning out the handful of protesters there supporting the former president, according to Politico. The grand jury is set to meet again Wednesday.
“I wish more people had shown up,” Trump supporter Philippe Lejeune told the outlet.
Law enforcement sources say an indictment against Trump was unlikely to come down on Tuesday, however, saying it wouldn’t come until Wednesday at the earliest. If Trump is truly indicted it may galvanize more of his supporters to protest.
Out of an abundance of caution, the NYPD ordered all 36,000 of its officers to be in uniform and on standby in anticipation of Trump’s potential arrest Tuesday. U.S. Capitol Police also erected barricades and called for more manpower ahead of the potential indictment, but few protesters showed up and Trump remains unmolested.
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The USCP clarified on Monday that it is not aware of any specific threat against the Capitol, but is making preparations out of an abundance of caution.
Several law enforcement groups were scheduled to meet at noon on Monday at NYPD headquarters in Manhattan to discuss the logistics of a potential indictment against Trump. The NYPD hosted the meeting, and attendees included Michael Magliano, chief of the Department of Public Safety, which oversees New York court officers, the head of the Secret Service’s New York office, and a representative from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Trump would be the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges if Bragg’s office levels them. The potential indictment is expected to allege campaign finance infractions relating to records keeping, what some call a slim pretext for such a high-profile case.
Some Democrats fear that the potential charges are not up to the task and could backfire, making it harder for allegations to stick relating to the other two investigations into Trump.
Bragg’s investigation is just one of three Trump is facing, and the charges stemming from it may be the easiest ones for Trump to defeat. A failed prosecution of the former president – whose opponents have long dreamed of locking him up – could only serve to bolster his common refrain that he is the victim of a “witch hunt.”