Between Al Capone, telenovela stars and a long list of narcos, Miami has had a long history of high-profile defendants. But none like Donald Trump.
(Bloomberg) — Between Al Capone, telenovela stars and a long list of narcos, Miami has had a long history of high-profile defendants. But none like Donald Trump.
As the former president prepares to appear in city court on Tuesday to face criminal charges, Miami police are gearing up for crowds ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 people, said Chief Manuel Morales. As of Tuesday morning, only the street in front of the courthouse had been closed.
On Tuesday morning, several dozens had shown up in Trump’s support, some wearing “Blacks for Trump” T-shirts, American flag regalia and “Trump 2024” flags. They were far outnumbered by the 60 tents housing broadcast studios, with reporters waiting through the night in line to access the court’s chambers.
Authorities are taking precautions as Trump is set to appear before a federal magistrate and enter a plea to a 37-count indictment accusing him of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House. Trump is slated to show up around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
“We know there is a potential of things taking a turn for the worse but that’s not the Miami way,” Morales said on Monday at a press conference flanked by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. “What we really don’t want is to inconvenience anybody.”
Miami’s preparations so far stand in contrast to New York last April, when Trump showed up in court for his first indictment on separate criminal charges. At the time, large groups of both protesters and supporters gathered nearby and several city blocks were closed to traffic.
On Monday, a rally at the gates of Trump’s Doral golf resort a few miles west, where the former president arrived in the afternoon, drew no more than 50 people.
Trump loyalists are promising a show of force, as part of a national call put out by Trump himself. He told Roger Stone — who was pardoned by Trump in 2020 following his conviction on making false statements, obstruction and witness tampering — on his radio show on Sunday that “they have to go out and they have to protest peacefully.”
“We are here to support him because we feel he did a good job when he was president,” said Lou Marin, executive vice president of the pro-Trump Florida Republican Assembly, who organized a caravan of supporters from Orlando. “We’re going down there to do our thing and then go home.”
–With assistance from Patricia Hurtado and Mark Niquette.
(Updates with details on street closures, protests starting second paragraph)
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