Trump NYC protests: Small group of former president's supporters, foes face off over criminal case
Supporters and foes of former President Donald Trump faced off in a park in lower Manhattan near the courthouse where Trump was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on criminal charges.
A small but boisterous group from both ends of the Trump spectrum filed into Collect Pond Park hours before the 76-year-old Trump showed up at New York Criminal Court to surrender to authorities and remained vocal outside the courthouse through his nearly hourlong court appearance.
Backers of the nation's 45th president held signs reading "Trump or Death," while adversaries countered with signs saying "Lock him up" and "IndicAted" -- a reference to how Trump misspelled indicted in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
ABC News reporters witnessed several small verbal skirmishes between the two factions, but nothing requiring police intervention.
The former president emerged from Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan just after 1 p.m. and his motorcade began the four-mile trip to the lower Manhattan courthouse. Trump pumped his fist at a crowd of supporters gathered across the street from Trump Tower before getting into a black vehicle.
By the time Trump arrived at the courthouse, hundreds of his supporters, some wearing MAGA hats, and Trump protesters, blowing whistles and banging tamborines, had filled the barricaded park. Uniformed officers formed a line in front of the courthouse and dozens more gathered at a nearby intersection as Trump entered the building through side door.
Trump surrendered to Manhattan District Attorney investigators and was fingerprinted prior to going up to the 15th-floor courtroom, where he was arraigned on 34 felony counts related to 2016 hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump. The former president has repeatedly denied having an affair with Daniels.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged Trump's motive was to "conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand Georgia Republican and staunch Trump supporter, was among those at the park for a pro-Trump rally. Rep. George Santos, the controversial freshman Republican from Long Island, was also spotted by ABC News crews at Collect Pond Park.
The park was split in half by police, with Trump supporters on the south side and counter-protesters on the north. The two camps spent hours yelling at each other across the barricades.
In advance of the historic arraignment, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, issued a warning to Greene and any "rabble-rousers" looking to cause trouble, saying, “New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger."
Adams specifically called out Greene, saying, "be on your best behavior."
During Tuesday's pro-Trump rally in lower Manhattan, hosted by the New York Young Republican Club, Greene fired back at Adams, saying, "While you allow crime in your streets, and you sent your henchmen down here … Democrats are the party of violence."
Speaking through a megaphone, Greene told Trump supporters, “I am here to protest and use my voice and take a stand."
"Every American should take a stand.," Greene said. "This is what happens to communists’ countries, not the United States of America. We have to take a stand against the injustice, the corruption and the communist Democrats."
At one point, members of the New York Young Republicans Club began chanting "USA! USA!"
There were no reports of arrests stemming from the demonstrations.
The indictment was announced last Thursday after a monthslong examination by a Manhattan grand jury.
Trump, who is currently the leading Republican candidate for president in the 2024 race, has described the indictment as a "political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history."
Following the arraignment, Trump immediately headed to LaGuardia Airport, where he boarded his private jet and flew back to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. He is scheduled to hold a news conference there Tuesday night.
One of Trump's attorneys, Joe Tacopina, told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that the case against the former president is "a joke."
"And it won't survive a challenge of law in a courtroom," Tacopina told "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman, Ricardo Montero and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
