Miami authorities warn of possible ‘disruption’ ahead of Trump’s arraignment
Miami authorities warned of possible “disruption” ahead of former President Trump’s arraignment in the city on Tuesday.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) said in a press conference Monday that the city is prepared to handle any protests and demonstrations that may occur during Trump’s first federal court appearance in connection to his alleged mishandling of documents Tuesday. He warned commuters that there could be “disruption” to traffic patterns, adding that they will shut down roads if necessary but are not initially planning to do so.
“We hope that tomorrow will be peaceful. We should encourage people to be peaceful in demonstrating how they feel,” Suarez said. “And we’re going to have the adequate forces necessary to ensure that. There may be, depending on the crowd size, some road closures, so people who live in the downtown area should expect additional traffic.”
Suarez also said that there will be increased emergency services in the area.
Trump left his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey to fly out to Florida on Monday, where he will be arraigned Tuesday on 37 federal counts of mishandling classified documents and his attempts to prevent the government from taking them.
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said that the city is prepared to handle crowd sizes “anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000.” He said that there will also be a designated area for people to use their First Amendment rights, noting that they may separate protesters from one another if necessary.
“Make no mistake about it, we’re taking this event extremely serious,” Morales said at the press conference. “We know that there is a potential of things taking a turn for the worst but that’s not the Miami way.”
When asked if the authorities were going to install barricades and set up a perimeter outside the courthouse where Trump will be arraigned, Morales said, “We’re not ready to discuss that at this time.” Photos outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse on Monday showed police putting up yellow caution tape outside the building.
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