On Thursday, as Donald Trump was being arraigned on federal charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election, only a few hundred people with no discernible partisan fervour lined the streets outside the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington to greet him. There were also a few vociferous supporters and protesters present.
Although the number of Trump supporters outside the courthouse gradually increased throughout the day, thanks in large part to curious passers-by, by 3 o’clock there were still only about a dozen people there, waving Trump 2024 flags and demanding the release of “political prisoners” from January 6. A couple automobiles drove by outside with similar signs of support. Most bystanders seemed unaware that Trump had come just after 3 and neither showed their approval nor disapproval of his presence.
About a dozen counterprotesters joined in the festivities, playing music and brandishing posters reading “Lock Him Up,” while some dressed in their finest Trump attire to ridicule the former president. Later in the afternoon, there was even a little rock concert.
One Trump backer told AWN he wasn’t shocked by the poor attendance because of what he saw as persecution of Trump’s followers.
Dion Cini, 54, of New York City, who was carrying a Trump 2024 flag, said, “They have scared Americans — especially Trump supporters — shitless.” To paraphrase one political commentator: “All the Republicans are just scared right now, and rightly so.”
Michael Symonette, one of the leaders of the Blacks for Trump movement, exclaimed, “I want freedom” while he and five others stood by. “Trump is the face of liberty.”
The former president will be formally charged at 4 p.m., at which time he will be brought into custody. He intends to enter a not guilty plea. After tweeting on Truth Social, “IT IS A GREAT HONOUR, BECAUSE I AM BEING ARRESTED FOR YOU,” Trump departed his Bedminster, N.J., golf club soon after 1 p.m. RESTORE THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA!!
Trump’s constant critics, the press, were out in force as hundreds of camera crews and reporters from dozens of countries and dozens of languages waited up outside the courthouse. On Wednesday night, journalists began gathering in anticipation of covering the event.
From the courthouse’s main entrance, one could see the U.S. Capitol, where 939 days previously hundreds of the former president’s supporters had stormed the building. So far, the scene on Thursday was very different from the circus-like atmospheres outside of Trump’s previous arraignments in New York in April and Miami in June.
Protesters who were happy about the indictment could be heard playing music on loudspeakers and occasionally shouting chants through a bull horn as they gathered around the Washington courtroom. The media and the general public alike were fascinated by a person costumed as an inflatable baby Trump and speaking in a Trump impression.
Karen Irwin, 47, of Manhattan, was getting ready to tie balloons to a poster she made with the words “Trump Indictment Celebration Tour” when she said, “We’re just here to celebrate our government attempting to prove that democracy is still possible and that we have any intention of holding people accountable.”
Irwin said that she had attended the New York and Miami arraignments to “celebrate” them, and that she was looking forward to an upcoming court date in Atlanta.
Several dozen law enforcement policemen from various federal agencies were posted around the street perimeter around the facility. A few mounted officers arrived in the afternoon to assist with crowd control.
A small number of visitors came and went from the courthouse to take pictures, but the main draw appeared to be across the street at one of the city’s famous art museums. The morning’s sunshine gradually gave way to cloud cover, and a few showers occurred during the day.
On Tuesday, Trump was hit with four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, stemming from his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to exploit the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The charges were brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
With 34 felony charges in New York state related to alleged hush money payments to a pornstar and 40 prospective felony charges from the alleged misuse of secret documents, the charges provide the former president with his largest legal struggle to date. Additionally, he is being looked into for potential electoral involvement in Georgia for 2020.
Few were showing up for Trump as of Thursday afternoon, despite his base’s unwavering support, which is often based on the false notion that his legal battles are politically motivated. Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential contender, was spotted in the courthouse to record a message of support for Trump, but he had presumably left by lunchtime.
It was a typical low-key August day in the nation’s capital, with Congress and many of Trump’s most prominent supporters away on vacation.
Vice President Joe Biden was also absent since he was on vacation in his home state of Delaware. A pool report states that on Thursday morning, while out for a bike ride, Biden smiled but did not answer a reporter’s question regarding the upcoming court proceedings in Washington.