New York authorities have placed Barricades outside the Manhattan Criminal Court Monday morning as the city braces for potential charges against former President Donald Trump, who called on his supporters to “protest” and to “take our country back” over his looming indictment.
Workers unloaded steel barricades from a New York Police Department truck, stacking them outside the courthouse and the Manhattan district attorney’s offices in lower Manhattan, NBC News reported Monday.
The report added that state and federal law enforcement were readying for a possible indictment for the former president, considering security around the Manhattan Criminal Court in the event that Trump is charged.
Trump on Sunday lashed out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Truth Social, calling him “corrupt” and urging his supporters to protest over his potential arrest in connection with the alleged hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
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“Protest, take our nation back!” Trump wrote.
His call has sparked concerns about how his supporters could respond. When the former president lost his 2020 reelection bid, his calls to his base to fight back culminated in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A number of lawmakers have weighed in on the call for protest.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that there should be no “violence or harm.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and Gary Cohn, Trump’s onetime economic adviser, stressed their desire for peace. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said “there’s no reason” to protest a potential Trump arrest at all.
“I don’t think people should protest this stuff,” McCarthy said when asked about Trump’s statement.
Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence called the potential indictment against Trump “deeply troubling” but noted that “violence will not be tolerated.”
“We respect the right of Americans to let their voice be heard and to express the frustration over what appears to be a politically motivated prosecution of the former president,” Pence said. “But we want to send a very clear message that violence will not be tolerated and anyone that would engage in violence would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
