New Yorkers’ reactions to Donald Trump’s indictment were divided, with some calling it “amazing” and others denouncing it as a “political witch hunt” from which the former president would come out on top.
As the first former US president to be charged with a crime, a grand jury in Manhattan decided on Thursday afternoon to arrest 76-year-old Trump for hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The atmosphere outside the Trump Tower in Manhattan’s posh Fifth Avenue was solemn and silent, around 6.5 kilometers from the Lower Manhattan courthouses where the grand jury chose to indict Trump.
In June 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for president by descending the “golden escalators” onto a gathering of fans and media members gathered inside this well-known Manhattan skyscraper.
Excluding a few New York Police Department (NYPD) police cars, barricades surrounding the sidewalk, and a few reporters and television crews, the scene outside Trump Tower on a cool Thursday evening was unremarkable.
New Yorkers and tourists passed by the structure while strolling past, with some pausing just momentarily to snap photos of the multi-story glass skyscraper bearing Trump’s name that is situated among the most opulent brands in the world on Fifth Avenue.
“This has strengthened Trump’s support,” New York activist Susan-Anne Miller told PTI outside the Trump Tower. “As far as Trump getting charged is concerned, certainly they’ll arrest him, they’ll take a mug photo and then he will be fine to go.
“He will be President once again by the time the matter gets to trial, she claimed.
She said that the prosecution’s evidence against Trump is thin. They were attempting to find a method to detain him despite the fact that there was no case. He will ultimately be found innocent since this is a political witch hunt, she said.
Miller said that after the indictment, there won’t be any protests by Trump supporters.
An elderly couple said that the indictment of Trump was “about time.”
“We are quite happy. We hope that he is charged. He shouldn’t run for president again, in our opinion. He is a criminal, and (the indictment and charges) have been long overdue, they said.
Veteran attorney Charle Earlston stated that after hearing the news of the indictment, he had anticipated to see larger gatherings of protesters and supporters outside the Trump Tower.
According to him, the indictment “symbolizes” where the nation stands at the moment.
For the greater part of eight years now, the Democratic Party and their supporters have sought to get Trump prosecuted on something, he said.
About the allegations of the hush money payments to Daniels, he remarked, “This is the most absurd one that they could have put out there.”
“Maybe by pressing through with this, they want to remove him off the ballot via legal methods. This is only the next phase of our nation’s transformation into a banana republic, he said.
A New Yorker named Benjamin Adams predicted that the Trump indictment will further polarize the country’s citizens.
I believe that the nation’s current problems are far more important than worrying about this, he remarked.
His companion identified the more urgent concerns the nation was facing, which required attention, as China, Russia, the US currency, and a poor economy.
The indictment was described as “extraordinary” by another New Yorker, who added that it had been a long time coming “.
“He will now have to deal with the repercussions. Every issue will incite his supporter base, he said.
Al Mason, a real estate investor, Trump supporter, and co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian-American Fundraising Committee, told PTI that the accusations against Trump are “100% political” and that he would come out stronger as a result of the witch hunt. Never undervalue this man. His polling results will soar, according to Mason.
Both liberal and conservative media figures reacted differently to the information, with left-wing users overwhelmingly appreciating the story while conservatism criticized it.
According to many media reports, the New York Police Department has sent out a letter telling its officers to “dress their uniforms” and be ready to go on duty after the indictment.