“It is not a day of protest. It is that of the reward”.
Along with several of her friends, Nadine Seler arrived early Tuesday morning at Collect Pond Park, just across from Manhattan Criminal Court where ex-President Donald Trump is appearing this afternoon to face criminal charges.
The former tenant of the White House, who aims to return there in 2024, entered the courthouse located in the south of the island, in view of his formal arraignment by a judge, at 2 p.m. 15.
A grand jury decided to indict the populist last week after investigating illegal financing of his 2016 election campaign. The crimes he allegedly committed relate to paying money to buy the silence of a porn actress with whom he allegedly committed adultery.
A long-awaited day
The indictment of a former president marks a first in US history. And a blessed day for Nadine Seler.
“We have been waiting for this day since 2020,” she said while holding a sign attacking the accusations of injustice launched by the billionaire since the announcement of his appearance in Manhattan justice. It read: “The witches know this is not a witch hunt.” “And hopefully that will mark the start of another round of indictments against him.”
While Donald Trump is being hounded by several other courts in the country, for having stolen secret documents at the end of his presidency or inciting the insurrection on January 6, 2021, on Tuesday, Manhattan justice could open the ball for indictments of the populist, for manipulation of accounting documents and possible fraud of the country’s electoral laws related to the payment of this $130,000 bribe.
The ex-elected, who has restarted his electoral machine in anticipation of the presidential election of 2024, was expected this afternoon at the 15e floor of the Criminal Court to submit, like all the other defendants, to the taking of his fingerprints and his mugshot, followed by the reading by Judge Juan Merchan, supposed to preside over the session, of the acts of charges brought against him. Donald Trump’s lawyers have already announced that they will present a not guilty answer.
“It’s a scandal, it’s a shame,” dropped Dion Chane, who came from Brooklyn to show his support for the populist with a huge flag on which it was written: “Trump or death”. “We will not be silent witnesses to this waste of money by justice to incriminate a man who has done nothing. I’ve been protesting for Trump since he entered politics. And I will continue to do so until our country is free”.
In the middle of the morning, a call for a demonstration launched by the representative of Georgia, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, a strong-voiced ally of the populist, caused a stir near the court where, since the day before, she had nevertheless announced a mobilization of scale, with the New York Young Republican Club, in support of the former president. When he arrived, the journalists waiting for him finally outnumbered his demonstrators.
“Donald Trump supporters will arrive later, assured Marverick Stow, 19, American flag in hand, arrived in the early morning, to “denounce the instrumentalization of justice by the Democrats”, he said. “It’s a dark day for our country.”
“Control yourself”
Monday, at a press conference, the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, had warned the faithful of the populist, against possible excesses. “Although there may be agitators in our city [mardi], our message is clear and simple: control yourself,” he said. “New York is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger. »
At noon Tuesday, the demonstrations, both supporters and opponents of the former president, were still located near the court, and still under control of a large deployment of police forces. And this, despite the calls for protest and the attacks launched by several Republicans against the Democratic camp, in the wake of this historic indictment of a former president.
This impeachment “almost ensures” that Donald Trump is going to be the Republican candidate of 2024, trumpeted Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, close to the populist, in an interview granted Monday to Sean Hannity, political commentator for the radical right. American. “Donald Trump alone could not have unified Republicans as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg [qui a mené l’enquête qui vaut désormais une mise en examen de Trump]just did,” he said.
“To date, the controversy and allegations of breaking the law have only helped Donald Trump, commented in an interview with the Duty Monday, Keith J. Bybee, associate dean of the School of Law at Syracuse University in New York state. Trump exults his notoriety by this criminal case. Immediately after his indictment, his campaign raised no less than $4 million in contributions. But if it works on its base, it is difficult to say that it will do the same on the voters, on the day of a general election, he concludes.
With Agence France-Presse