The New York City Police Department has instructed all 36,000 of its officers to be in uniform and on standby ahead of the potential arrest of former President Trump on Tuesday.
Both the NYPD and Capitol Hill police in Washington, D.C., are making preparations for potential unrest should Trump be indicted, though they said there have been no specific threats. Law enforcement sources said Trump is unlikely to be indicted on Tuesday, however, saying it is more likely to occur on Wednesday at the earliest.
While an indictment is by no means certain, Trump himself has called on his supporters to "protest" and "take our country back," in the event of his arrest. The NYPD's orders to officers came in a Tuesday memo obtained by News 4.
U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) have already begun erecting barricades and calling in more manpower as a precaution. The barriers will not extend so far as they did in the weeks following the pro-Trump storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, however.
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The USCP clarified on Monday that it is not aware of any specific threat against the capitol, but is making preparations out of an abundance of caution.
Several law enforcement groups were scheduled to meet at noon on Monday at NYPD headquarters in Manhattan to discuss the logistics of a potential indictment against Trump. The NYPD hosted the meeting, and other attendees included Michael Magliano, chief of the Department of Public Safety, who oversees NY court officer; the head of the Secret Service of the New York office, and a representative from the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Trump would be the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office levels them. The potential indictment is expected to allege campaign finance infractions relating to records keeping, a slim pretext for such a high-profile case.
Some Democrats fear that the potential charges are not up to the task and could backfire, making it harder for allegations to stick relating to the other two investigations into Trump.
Bragg's investigation is just one of three Trump is currently facing, and the charges stemming from it may be the easiest ones for Trump to defeat. A failed prosecution of the former president – whose opponents have long dreamed of locking him up – could only serve to bolster his common refrain that he is the victim of a "witch hunt."
