Screaming protesters clashed with cops and the media outside Manhattan court Tuesday ahead of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment — as MAGA-loving Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s nearby speech was drowned out by whistles and boos.
The firebrand far-right congresswoman from Georgia had previously encouraged Trump supporters to join her at Collect Pond Park, just steps away from the courthouse, for a rally at 10:30 a.m.
She arrived 5 minutes late and stayed just 10 minutes — driven off by foes shouting her down.
“We are the party of male and female!” Greene told the crowd of about 200 Trump supporters and a similar amount of counter-protesters in her brief speech. “We are the party of secured borders!”
Anti-trump protesters shouted back, “Get your ass home!” “Go back to Washington!” Get the f–k out of my city!” “F–k you, Marjorie” and “New York City hates you!”
Protesters clash with the NYPD outside Collect Park ahead of Trump’s Manhattan arraignment Tuesday. Stephen Yang
Anti-Trump supporters protest outside the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday. AFP via Getty ImagesWhistles helped drown out the Georgia Republicans’ speech, and she quickly returned to her white SUV saying it was too hectic and “swarmed” to stay.
Disgraced New York Rep. George Santos (R-NY) showed up around 9:40 a.m. and appeared to initially fake a phone call when The Post asked him questions
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The serial liar stayed on the scene for less than an hour but said he was there to show his support for Trump, who made history Tuesday afternoon as the first-ever sitting or current US president to be arrested and arraigned on criminal charges involving 34 felony counts related to alleged business fraud.
Trump supporters and detractors face off during a protest outside Manhattan court on April 4, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Pro-Trump supporters and anti-Trump protesters clash outside Manhattan court Tuesday. Getty Images“I’m not here for the cameras. I’m just here for the president of the United States who is being unfairly attacked by a DA,” the congressman said. “Where’s Mr. Biden’s indictment after two years of a laptop full of a treasure trove of crime?”
He left before 10:30 a.m., citing safety concerns.
“Say what you want, I showed up what about you?” he tweeted a few hours later.
Disgraced Rep. George Santos said he was outside Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday to show his support for former President Donald Trump. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
Majorie Taylor Green spoke at Collect Park before Donald Trump’s arraignment Tuesday. Stephen Yang
Anti-Trump protesters flood Manhattan streets Tuesday. Stephen YangThe scene was flooded with dozens of police officers — and armed NYPD snipers were spotted on the roofs of several buildings as police helicopters circled overhead upon Trump’s arrival.
A police detective at the scene, asked by The Post about one of the snipers, said, “Of course he’s armed.
“He’s not up there with a water pistol.”
A Trump supporter tears up a banner from anti-Trump protesters outside Manhattan court April 4, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The Trump supporter who tore up an anti-Trump banner trips and falls to her knees. AFP via Getty ImagesCops were also using binoculars to watch the crowd from the balcony of the Manhattan family-court building.
Maurice Symonette, the founder of Blacks for Trump, told The Post he was at Tuesday’s protest to “defend Trump against lying bastards like Alvin Bragg and Letitia James.
Follow The Post’s coverage on Trump’s indictment
“It’s great that they are doing this because all this is going to do is catapult Trump into the presidency,” Symonette said of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who sought the indictment against Trump, and state Attorney General Letitia James, who has her own probe going into the former prez.
“It’s already helping [Trump] because they’ll never ever put him on TV again. But damn this looks like TV to me. He is a folk hero,” the supporter said.
Anti-Trump protesters demonstrate facing Trump supporters outside Manhattan court on the day of Trump’s arraignment. REUTERS
Pro- and anti-Trump supporters face off in Manhattan on Tuesday. AFP via Getty ImagesEarlier in the morning, Trump backer Juliet Germanotta dared anyone to “touch” her MAGA hat in the packed, hectic scrum of supporters of the ex-president, counter-protesters, and the media around 10 a.m.
“It’s a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. I want to see the charges dropped,” she said of the indictment. “I can think of a reason to indict [President] Biden. Where is Hunter Biden’s laptop?”
NYPD cops yelled at some of the protesters to calm down as members of the opposing groups pushed and screamed their way through the crowd of hundreds.
Trump supporters and protesters surround MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green outside Manhattan court while awaiting the arrival of the former president. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
A heavy police presence and hundreds of media outlets are seen surrounding Manhattan court. Paul MartinkaNYPD Community Affairs officers were pulling anti-Trump protesters from the pro-Trump area, returning them to the side of Collect Pond Park designated for them, trying to keep the two sides separate as they rushed to remove people the moment they heard an argument.
Anti-Trumper Nadine Seiler, 57, came from Maryland to see Trump make notorious history.
“I am here celebrating Trump being held accountable for just one thing,” she said.
The media descends upon Manhattan Supreme Court, where Trump was arraigned Tuesday afternoon. Matthew McDermott“I want his ass to go to jail,” Seiler said. “But I know it’s not going to happen because he’s a rich white man living in a white man’s country ruled by the patriarchal capitalists.”
Maverick Stow of Long Island told The Post that the police were actively discouraging protesters from being in the area.
The 19-year-old real-estate agent claimed that “regular people can’t get anywhere near the sidewalk around the courthouse.
“Why?! It’s public property isn’t it?” he asked.
Trump has called the charges against him a “witch hunt” and urged his supporters to take the streets of New York in his defense.
Pauline Braccio, 66, came from Lansdale, Pa., to support Trump, who she said is “still my president.
“I think Bragg is an ass,” she said of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who convened a grand jury to consider an indictment against Trump.
“Stormy Daniels has changed her story so many times,” Braccio added of the porn star at the center of the case.
“If Trump did pay her to keep her mouth shut, that’s not a crime,” Braccio said, referring to the $130,000 hush-money payment made to Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
“Hush money is not a crime. He just wanted her to stop spreading the lie that she slept with him. He’s married to Melania, for God’s sake, why would he sleep with that whore?”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was also outside the courthouse, saying he was there to “stand with the folks who are always pushing for a better America.
“New York is a great place to be. I understand why she wants to be here, but I will be happy when she leaves as soon as possible,” Williams said about Greene.
The protests outside the courthouse were controversial before they even started, with Mayor Eric Adam on Monday publicly warning Greene to “be on your best behavior.
“Our message is clear and simple, control yourself. New York City is our home, not a playground for your misplaced anger,” Adams at a press conference.
Greene claimed Tuesday morning that the Trump counter-protesters are the real threat to peace in New York City, saying on Twitter that she is “here in NY to protest with my voice against the weaponization of the justice system on innocent President Trump, but the counter-protestors are coming to commit assault that can cause audible damage to everyone’s ears including NYPD.”
-Additional reporting by Tina Moore






