MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of journalists from around the world were gathered Tuesday outside the courthouse in downtown Miami where former President Donald Trump is scheduled to make his first appearance on criminal charges he improperly held on to classified documents.
Protests were scheduled for later in the day by Trump backers who have criticized the felony charges, though the number of Trump supporters and those opposing him were a fraction of the crowd compared with the media in attendance Tuesday morning. Journalists from China, the UK, Australia, France, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Germany and Switzerland were among the hundreds of journalists who have converged on the courthouse. Some of them have spent several days camped out in the muggy heat.
Security was tight. A yellow-tape police line and about a half-dozen federal police vehicles formed a barricade, keeping people from a palm tree-lined breezeway and the public entrance to the modern, largely glass Wilkie D. Ferguson federal courthouse. A police helicopter passed overhead at times, and about two dozen Miami police officers circled the building's perimeter on bicycles.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has said the city is ready to handle any protests that occur, and that local law enforcement has experience handling large demonstrations.
The early crowd Tuesday included people toting T-shirts with Trump's face in a mock mugshot, with large letters reading “NOT GUILTY.” Some had Trump 2024 flags, supporting his bid for president next year. Another man, who opposes Trump, dressed in black-and-white prison stripes and held a sign reading “LOCK HIM UP.” At times, people shouted past each other with dueling megaphones.
Among those who arrived early 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 is possible that Trump is guilty of illegally retaining classified documents.
But he questioned the fairness of the proceedings in light of what he said was prosecutors’ lax attitude toward President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — both of whom have also been accused of mishandling classified intelligence albeit without any intention of hiding their actions.
“Even if he’s guilty, we will still support him,” said Rodriguez as a contingent of Miami police officers rode by on bicycles.
“We never abandon our amigos — those who love this country and our liberty,” he added, highlighting the former president’s staunch opposition to Cuba’s communist government.
Some came to counter the Trump supporters. Jack Kaplan, 68, drove two hours from Ft Pierce, where the judge assigned to the case is based. Toting a copy of the indictment affixed to a clipboard, and a sign reading “Trump is Toast,” the retired car dealer said he’ll celebrate with a $1,400 bottle of Mouton Rothschild red wine if the former president is locked away.
“I’ve already got the bottle sitting in my wine cooler,” said Kaplan as a Trump supporter carrying a sign reading “Keep America Great” walked by. “I’m going to have a big party.”
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Burnett reported from Chicago.
