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Expectations were high. It was expected that this Monday, the opening of the first criminal trial against a former president of the United States, the streets around the courthouse would be filled with protesters for and against Donald Trump. But around the judicial building in Manhattan (New York) today there were more journalists than protesters. As the Republican sat in the dock inside 100 Center Street, in the park directly across from it, the Collect Pond, the cameras and microphones of reporters were more numerous than the banners. The media looked for any Trumpist protesters who raised their voices, while security officers, part of an impressive deployment of police both in the courthouse and in the park and surrounding streets, evicted anyone who they thought might cause trouble. .
The Collect Pond park was divided in two with police fences: on one side, anti-Trump protesters, who could be counted on one hand, and on the other, about 50 supporters of the former president who waved flags with slogans like “Trump 2024,” “Trump or Death” and “Law and Order.” Among them, some even carried identifiers of white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys or Patriot Front, groups that were present at the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Others wore caps or sweatshirts supporting the Republican: “Women for Trump,” “Jews for Trump” or “Gays for Trump.” One of them was Paul Revere, who displayed the slogan “Latinos for Trump” on the garment. This Cuban-American from New Jersey said that he was in court so that “President Trump knows that he has support in New York.” “The [Joe] Biden Administration is destroying the country, allowing anyone to enter through the border without knowing who is who. They can be rapists or criminals. The criminals who are entering give a bad name to the worthy migrants, those who come to work and have a good life. We must close the border,” said Revere, who called the trial against Trump “third world” for the alleged payment to a porn actress to ensure her silence after an extramarital affair. “They could have done this [the trial] three years ago, but in this communist country, like in Cuba, they waited to do it days before the elections,” he said.
In addition to the noise of the helicopter engines that circulated above the court area, you could also hear the music of a van full of pro-Trump flags that spent the entire morning circling the nearby streets. Every time he passed through the park he honked his horn and the few Trump supporters present chanted: “Trump didn't do anything wrong!”
The only anti-Trump protester in the area of the park where Trumpists gathered was Marc Leavitt. This New York lawyer, standing on one of the park benches, spent the morning playing patriotic songs on his clarinet. He was carrying a banner in which he referred to Trump as a “liar,” “narcissist,” and “coward.” “I came here to be seen,” Leavitt said, referring to the pro-Trump protesters. “No man or woman is above the law, least of all our
former liar-in-chief
. He deserves all the justice he gets. “My hope is that, with the trial, more people's eyes will be opened, that Trump supporters will realize that the rule of law is more important than any man, any liar,” he added.
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After noon, there was a confrontation between protesters from both sides. A couple of Trump's detractors crossed into the Trump supporters' area. The women were surrounded by Republican supporters and suffered insults, from “traitors” to racist abuse. They harassed them until they were forced to leave the park.
There were also disagreements between the Trumpists themselves. One of them ended with one of Trump's supporters — dressed in an American flag jumpsuit — being chased out of the park by police. Later, a Trumpist hurled racist insults at African-American supporters and also ended up being expelled from the park by the former president's own supporters, who accused him of being an "infiltrated Democrat."