No Fed-Insurrection At Trump’s Arraignment

Apparently, Ray Epps was otherwise occupied yesterday, because there was no “fed-insurrection” in conjunction with the arraignment of former President Donald Trump. Indeed,

after days of breathless prognostication about the potential for violence in Miami, at the scene of the unprecedented “arrest” of the former President things were eerily calm.

An attorney for former President Trump, Alina Habba, spoke outside the courthouse ahead of Trump’s arraignment, saying that the former president was “defiant.” Habba ridiculed what she called a “two-tiered system of justice” and called the indictment an “unapologetic weaponization of the criminal justice system.”

Gregg Donovan of Los Angeles stood in front of the courthouse's east entrance with a Trump-DeSantis 2024 sign. “It’s going to make him win," said Donovan, who said he had been on the property since 5 a.m., "and then he'll pardon himself.”

Other demonstrators who arrived at 7 a.m. brought signs and props. Trump supporters even dressed up to show support and planned to stay in the area until after the former president faced the judge.

The Wall Street Journal reported Bob Kunst, a Miami Beach native who says he supports Trump, set up a chair in front of the courthouse with a white sign with red lettering in support of Trump. “Lock Biden Up,” its last line read.

Kunst said the indictment of the former president was the worst move officials could have made.

“The more they attack him, the more Trump people get on board,” he said.

Supporters of President Trump who gathered outside federal courthouse on Tuesday and were interviewed by Miami’s WSVN said they expected the pro-Trump protesters to stay calm.

“When you’re born here, and God knows I’ve done thousands of demonstrations here, I don’t see [it going bad] at all,” said one Trump supporter. “This community doesn’t always get good press but we’re far better than most ever understand.”

Prior to the motorcade incident, the most exciting moment of the morning came around 11 a.m., when Homeland Security assisted the local authorities as they investigated a suspicious device outside the federal courthouse where former President Donald Trump was set to arrive. Less than an hour later officers gave the all-clear.

Officers inspected a flat-screen television tied to a pole that displayed the words, “[Expletive] the communist-controlled media” outside of the building. Officials said the TV had suspicious wiring that poked out of the back.

The Associated Press reported, some Trump supporters headed to Miami by bus from other parts of Florida, raising concerns for law enforcement officials preparing for possible unrest around the courthouse. Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales said downtown could see anywhere from a few thousand up to 50,000 protesters. But watching the livestreams outside Mr. Trump’s court appearance, there were no reports of major chaos.

AP reported, among those present were the father-son duo of Florencio and Kevin Rodriguez, who came to the U.S. fifteen years ago as asylum seekers fleeing dictatorship in Cuba.

Wearing a shirt that reads “Jesus is my savior, Trump my president,” the younger Rodriguez, Kevin, said it was possible Trump was guilty of illegally retaining classified documents. But he questioned the fairness of the proceedings in light of other classified information probes concerning Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden.

“We never abandon our amigos — those who love this country and our liberty,” Rodriguez added, highlighting Trump’s staunch opposition to Cuba’s communist government.

The Orlando Sentinel reported several dozen Central Florida MAGA supporters headed to Miami on Tuesday to back Donald Trump during a history-making court hearing, saying they remain firmly committed to the former president despite the 37 felony charges he faces.

Trump supporters clad in the stars and stripes left the Walmart on John Young Parkway about 10 a.m. to join a crowd that Miami authorities expected to span anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000.

Trump’s supporters said they think the federal charges are politically motivated and vowed to back him over his primary challenger Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican politicians. Some wore shirts that read, “Donald Trump Did Nothing Wrong,” while another donned a “Finish the Wall” hat.

“Donald Trump is the only one in the world who has the ability and the willingness to put America back on the right track,” said Mike Levine of Clermont. “There’s a lot of people in high places that don’t want us to have the freedoms and liberties that we have had.”

The Florida Republican Assembly organized the bus trip. That group describes itself as a “Judeo-Christian grassroots organization committed to restoring the Republican Party to its founding principles.” Another group, known as Pro-Lifers 4 Trump, also planned to protest at the Miami federal courthouse.

The organization wanted to show “solidarity” with Trump, said Lou Marin, an Orlando resident and executive vice president of the Florida Republican Assembly. LCA Development and Realty, an Orlando real estate developer, sponsored the trip, according to a flyer.

“We firmly believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Marin said.

Miriam J. Ramirez, president of the Puerto Rico Republican Assembly, wore a “Make America Great Again” hat and said she and others in the Puerto Rican community are sticking with the former president.

USA Today reported Trump's indictment represented an assault on "freedom" to Kevin Caldwell of Fort Lauderdale. He stood in front of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse with a U.S. flag.

“What we are seeing today is a broken America,” Caldwell said. “America is under attack. Our freedoms are under attack.”

While the demonstrators outside the courthouse were largely calm, some of the rhetoric of Trump’s high-profile supporters remained hot. On Monday evening, Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed candidate who lost her bid for Arizona governor last fall and became a MAGA star by exposing the fraud and manipulation in Arizona’s Democrat-run election system, drew 600 people to Club 47 in West Palm Beach. She promised to attend a rally to support Trump at the courthouse. On Sunday, Lake had hinted at violence, warning that if prosecutors “want to get to President Trump,” they’re ”going to have to go through me, and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA.”

Ms. Lake’s rhetoric may sound over-the-top but we suspect at least some of President Trump’s 75 million voters share her view and are waiting and hoping the justice system, even if it has to go to the Supreme Court, brings the political persecution of Donald Trump to a close.

• Trump arraignment

• Mar-a-Lago documents

• Alina Habba

• Loren Merchan

• change of venue

• Matthew Colangelo

• New York Attorney General Leticia James

• George Soros prosecutors

• Stormy Daniels scandal

• Donald Trump indictment

• Democrat Attorney General Leticia James

• Michael D. Cohen

• Federal Election Commission

• Attorney Mike Davis

• fed-surrection

• nationwide protests

• Trump polls