New York plans to close key streets for Donald Trump’s arraignment
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Police, media and a small group of protesters gather outside a Manhattan courthouse on Thursday after news broke that former president Donald Trump had been indicted by a grand jury.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – New York City officials plan to close key streets in lower Manhattan as a security measure when former president Donald Trump appears in court on Tuesday to be arraigned
Several streets surrounding the Manhattan courthouse, including Centre Street and Baxter Street, are expected to be closed to traffic, while other adjacent streets such as Worth Street and Canal Street may also experience intermittent closures, the person said.
Vehicles could also be prohibited from parking in the immediate area, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public.
Trump is expected to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon, the first former United States president to be indicted.
A grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who had been investigating Trump’s role in a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has denied any wrongdoing
Preparations were already visible last Friday afternoon as court officials in the lower Manhattan courthouse readied for the arraignment.
A team of Secret Service agents accompanied by New York Police Department (NYPD) officials toured the courthouse and its entrances last Friday, apparently mapping the former president’s transit through the building. The public was later barred from entering the floor where New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the judge who will preside over Trump’s case, has his courtroom.
Just before sunset last Friday, at the city park located across the street from the courthouse, a parks department employee shooed out visitors and locked the gates, announcing the venue was now closed. It typically closes at 10pm.
Trump has already warned that there could be violence if he was indicted, saying on his Truth Social platform on March 24 that if he was charged, there could be “potential death and destruction”.
Ahead of the indictment, he also called for protesters to “take our nation back”, echoing his rhetoric before the Jan 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The NYPD issued a statement last Saturday saying there were “no credible threats to New York” and that the department remained “ready to respond as needed”.
Manhattan borough president Mark Levine said on Twitter last 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”.
After Trump predicted he would be indicted on March 21, the NYPD deployed additional officers on foot and in police cars to monitor the immediate area around the courthouse. The NYPD installed temporary floodlights around the building, which also includes the offices of Mr Bragg.
As soon as word of Trump’s indictment began to filter out, additional metal barricades were placed around the building and teams of officers were posted at each corner and across the street where the Manhattan grand jury worked. BLOOMBERG
