NEW YORK: New York City officials plan to close key streets in lower Manhattan as a security measure if former US President Donald Trump is indicted when he appears in a court here on Tuesday, reported ABS News.
The US Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the New York Police Department in the event that former President Trump is indicted and arraigned in an open courtroom in Manhattan, according to sources.
Both agencies discussed logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions, reported ABC News.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said on Twitter on Thursday that “NYPD and other law enforcement agencies have been planning and coordinating intensively for this moment. New York City is ready. If there is a Trump mob, they have lost the element of surprise.”
Earlier Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was “confident” the city is prepared for any protests related to a potential indictment of the former president.
“We are monitoring comments on social media, and the NYPD is doing their normal role of making sure there is no inappropriate actions in the city,” Adams said Monday at an unrelated press conference. “We are confident we’re going to be able to do that.”
Trump is expected to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon, the first former US president to be indicted. A grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who had been investigating Trump’s role in hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, determined on Thursday that there was enough evidence to bring criminal charges against him.
Trump, who is running for the Republican nomination for next year’s presidential race, has denied any wrongdoing and called the probe and the indictment a partisan attack. Bragg is a Democrat.
A team of Secret Service agents accompanied by New York Police Department officials toured the courthouse and its entrances on Friday, apparently mapping the former president’s transit through the building.
Writing on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump called for protests against what he said was his expected arrest Tuesday, reported ABC News.
Online posts indicate there appear to be a handful of small protests being organized by different grassroots groups. On Sunday a small group of pro-Trump demonstrators gathered on the bridge connecting Palm Beach to the mainland. They said they would return with more people on Tuesday or sooner if Trump were to be indicted, according to reports.
An intelligence bulletin issued Sunday by the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C., and obtained by ABC News, says that some extremists consider the possible indictment of Trump a “line in the sand.”
“Potential criminal justice actions taken toward a former US president — or actions perceived to be taken toward the former president — remain a ‘line in the sand’ for Domestic Violent Extremists (DVE) communities and thus have the potential to manifest in violence toward government targets or political officials,” said the bulletin from the DC Fusion Center, a threat intelligence group within the agency.
The FBI is warning local and state police agencies around the country about concerns related to a possible indictment of Trump, but the bureau says it doesn’t have any additional information.
“The FBI continues to closely monitor a potential Indictment of the former President which open-source reporting has indicated may occur in the coming week,” the FBI said in a warning obtained by ABC News.
The US Capitol Police also issued their own assessment regarding potential violence, saying that they have seen “no current indication of threats directed at the US Capitol or Members of Congress” as it relates to Trump. (ANI)
