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City, state and federal law enforcement agencies are preparing for potential security threats and working through the unprecedented logistics of a former president’s arrest following news that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump.
There are no credible threats to the city at this time, according to the mayor’s office.
Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters Friday that the National Guard and state police are ready to help, but that she’ll let city officials decide if they need the state’s assistance.
The Office of Court Administration said court officers are operating at a “heightened state of readiness.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg posted on Twitter Thursday night that a date has yet to be set for Trump’s court appearance.
“This evening, we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal,” a spokesperson said in the tweeted statement.
The Associated Press reports that Trump will be arraigned in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
Police have been on high alert since Trump posted on social media earlier this month a couple weeks ago that he expected to be arrested the next week and urged his followers to protest. The NYPD, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the Secret Service have also reportedly met in recent weeks.
That day came and went without an indictment. But as high-profile witnesses continued to stream in and out of the courthouse, signaling an impending vote from the grand jury, metal barricades went up, lining the sidewalks that have since filled with journalists, officers, inquisitive passersby and the occasional protester.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But after Trump first asked his supporters to “TAKE OUR NATION BACK” on his social media platform, Truth Social, earlier this month, a spokesperson for the department said it was communicating with its government and law enforcement partners.
The police department has asked its more than 30,000 members to report to work in their full uniforms today in case they need to be deployed to a demonstration, according to a memo obtained by PIX11 News.
Former NYPD Deputy Chief Robert Lukach, who oversaw the department’s Special Operations Division for about eight years before retiring last spring, said it’s typical for officers to be instructed to show up to work with all their gear when there’s a chance of mass demonstrations.
Lukach said the department normally gathers officers in a staging area, where they’re essentially on standby until something happens. In the meantime, intelligence officers scour social media for clues about potential threats or gatherings. Helicopters may also monitor the situation from above.
MTA Chief Safety and Security Officer Pat Warren said the agency is coordinating with law enforcement to prepare for any disruptions to service and keep subways and buses safe.
“We will continue to move riders where they need to go,” he said in a statement.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Bragg on social media, going so far as to call him an “animal” in a now-deleted social media post that Bragg’s allies have called racist. The next day, an envelope filled with white powder also was mailed to Bragg’s office, according to multiple news reports. Officials inspected the substance and determined that it was not dangerous.
“The most serious security issue is the protection of Alvin Bragg and his family,” reporter Errol Louis told WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Friday. “Because this is a president that has made a lot of statements and social media posts that are openly hostile, and some of the images are arguably an incitement to violence.”
Jon Campbell contributed reporting.
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