The former president announced that he would be “arrested” on Tuesday and encouraged his supporters to demonstrate. This message reminds law enforcement of its call for the January 2020 insurrection that led to the attack on the Capitol.
Could an indictment of Donald Trump cause riots in the United States? In any case, the police in New York and Washington DC are preparing for this scenario, while a decision by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office to prosecute the former president could be announced as early as Tuesday.
Donald Trump announced on his social network Truth Social on Saturday that he would be “arrested” on Tuesday in a bribe case paid with campaign funds in 2016. He called on his supporters to protest against this decision. “Protest, take back our nation,” he wrote.
However, no official source has confirmed any speeches or arrests to come in this case for the moment.
“Maximum alert” in New York
In this context, the police of New York, city where the prosecution in charge of the case is located, asked all its agents to wear their uniform and to be ready to be deployed this Tuesday, according to an internal memo to which had access CNN media. Despite a situation described as “high alert”, the New York security forces believe that there is no credible threat at present.
In Washington, the call to demonstrate launched by the former president loudly echoes the one he sent to his supporters in early 2020 in order to denounce the so-called theft of the presidential election by his Democratic rival Joe Biden . Trumpist protesters then stormed the Capitol, the seat of the United States Parliament, and five people (a police officer and four protesters) died.
Law enforcement in the Federal Capitol is therefore preparing for potential protests, but units tasked specifically with protecting the Houses of Parliament “are not currently tracking any direct or credible threats against the United States Capitol”, according to a service assessment. intelligence from the department obtained by CNN.
No spectacular arrest to be expected
If Donald Trump is charged, it will not take place in the classic way: the police will not come to his house to take him to prison. Because of his status as a former president, he will be summoned to the prosecutor’s office, who will notify him of the charges against him, and he should normally be released pending trial.
The former tenant of the White House is at the heart of an investigation for a suspicion of a bribe of 130,000 dollars paid to a pornographic actress, Stormy Daniels. The money was reportedly used to buy this actress silence about a relationship with Donald Trump, who was then campaigning for the presidency. Problem: this money would have been taken from the candidate’s campaign accounts, which is illegal.
If the charges are brought against him, Donald Trump will become the first former president of the United States to be charged in a criminal case.
