Clashes broke out early this morning on the steps of the New York court where Donald Trump is due to be arrested.
Pro-Trump and anti-Trump protesters wrestled with one another outside the complex of courts at 111 Center Street on the island of Manhattan before the fight was broken up by police.
A burly blonde woman wearing a red “MAGA” cap faced off against a grey-haired woman wearing a hoodie reading: “Arrest Trump.”
The two women were chest-to-chest and appeared to be shouting in each other’s faces in photographs of the altercation. They were tussling over a giant navy blue flag emblazoned with “TRUMP LIES ALL THE TIME”.
Footage of the incident, which was shared by a BuzzFeed reporter, appeared to show the pro-Trump supporter rushing at the banner and attempting to remove it.
“You’re on the wrong side,” a group of anti-Trump protesters shouted.
“Started attacking the anti-Trump protesters. Very ugly and heated. Swarmed by media. Police struggled to get in to break it up. Getting heated,” the reporter David Mack tweeted. Behind them, a group of young men wearing “black for Trump” T-shirts watched on.
Meanwhile, counter protesters chanted “lock him up!”
The anti-Trump protesters have reportedly been moved to a separate holding pen as tensions continued to flare.
It came as New York waited with bated breath for the homecoming of its prodigal son. Donald Trump had returned to the city that made his name – and his fortune – to answer to criminal charges.
New Yorkers were transfixed, about to witness an unprecedented moment in history. Bankers on their way to work in Manhattan’s financial district were glued to their phone screens, coffee shops had 24-hour news on television screens checking for updates.
“It is like OJ Simpson on steroids,” said one barista, in reference to the breathless media coverage of the 1994 police chase of the American football player’s bronco down an LA freeway.
George Santos, a controversy-mired New York congressman, triggered a frenzy when he made an appearance outside the court. The Republican congressman was mobbed by journalists and protesters. He told reporters he didn’t plan to go inside the court but came to lend his “support to the president.”
Santos has been accused of lying about his biography ahead of his election in November. He is currently under investigation by the House of Representatives ethics committee.
“I want to support the president, just because I think this is unprecedented, and it’s a bad day for democracy,” he said.
“What’s to stop the next prosecutor in two years from doing the same thing to Joe Biden and moving on every four years?
“So this makes bad precedent legally. And it makes, it cheapens the judicial system, and it’s not good for America.” Santos has rejected calls for his resignation, including some from members of his own party.
Police cordons were set up all over lower Manhattan to protect the court, as well as Trump Tower in Midtown’s Fifth Avenue, where the former president was holed up and hosting last-minute meetings with his legal team.
All 35,000 officers in New York’s police department had been ordered to turn up for work in uniform this morning, in anticipation of possible unrest. It wasn’t much later than 9am before they had to deal with the first clashes.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, an alt-right member of Congress and one of Mr Trump’s staunchest political allies, was leading a demonstration in a park opposite the court, threatening to turn an already potentially flammable situation combustible.
Eric Adams, the straight-talking New York mayor, had warned Ms Taylor Greene ahead of time against inciting any violence. “I’m telling you – be on your best behaviour,” he said in his distinctive broad Brooklyn accent. “We will not allow violence or vandalism of any kind.”
Several Trump supporters, most wearing MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats and T-shirts, loitered around the park waiting for MTG’s grand appearance.
Maverick Stow, a Trump supporter from Long Island, waved an American flag. He said he came in to protest what he called “the politically weaponised prosecution” of the former president and “the misuse of the justice system in general.”
The public fascination with the case was evident by Monday as national television carried live images of Mr Trump’s motorcade from his Mar-a-Lago club to a private, red, white and blue Boeing 757 stencilled with his name. From there, Mr Trump was flown to New York, where cameras followed his motorcade into his home base in central Manhattan.
In a sign of the scale of interest in the case, members of the media and public began queuing up outside the court from 2pm on Monday – 24 hours ahead of Mr Trump’s scheduled arraignment – hoping to catch a front-row seat to a moment in history.
One local blogger who was second in line was offering their ticket for $10,000 on social media.
Others, like Gregory Williams, a 57-year-old Bronx resident sitting on a folding chair next to a life-size cardboard cutout of Hillary Clinton, were just here for the ride.
“All this is just a big show,” Mr Williams said. “I got the popcorn. This is American theatre at its best.”
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