New York authorities are setting up steel barricades outside the NYC criminal court and district attorney’s office as former President Trump could be arrested Tuesday.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has reportedly mobilized 700 riot police.
NBC New York reports multiple agencies including the NYPD, Secret Service and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force are all taking increased security measures preparing for Trump’s possible indictment.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) March 20, 2023
The former president called for national protests in the event he is arrested.
“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s potential arrest is related to an alleged hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The former president has denied the allegations. In a Truth Social post over the weekend, he called the accusations a “fairytale” and noted they have been “debunked” by numerous prosecutors.
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Many conservatives, and even some of Trump’s potential opponents in the upcoming GOP primary race, have called NYC district attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into the former president part of a “political agenda” and “deeply troubling.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) mentioned that Bragg is a George Soros-funded district attorney who is “weaponizing” his position and called the probe a “manufactured circus.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has recently taken shots at his former boss, said the potential indictment is “politically motivated” but called for all protests to be peaceful.
“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, per a report from The Hill. “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.”