On the morning of the 45th president’s court appearance for his second indictment, media outnumbered the MAGA hats. Despite all the hype, this arraignment failed to bring his fans out like on January 6th.
Reporters and TV crews outnumbered former President Donald Trump’s supporters outside the courthouse, where he appeared Tuesday to respond to a 37-count indictment accusing him of keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and other charges, some under the Espionage Act.
Among the more colorgul supporters, Lazaro Encenarro said he had been in line for a seat at Trump’s court appearance since Monday afternoon. The Miami native in a MAGA cap and a black Trump 2024 T-shirt said Tuesday morning that he’s here to support the former president as he faces “unfair criminal charges.”
“We may not like his attitude or his demeanor,” said Encenarro, 48, who was in Miami from Oklahoma for a medical procedure on his eye. “But at the end of the day, he is an innocent man.”
It is not known if Encenarro has actually read the 49 page indictment.
Encenarro was part of a “crowd” of about 50 people in camping chairs mostly occupied by media personnel outside the courthouse as cars passed by on Miami Avenue.
Next to Encenarro, Raj Abhyanker ate Pringles chips while telling reporters that he may vote for Trump in 2024 or for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he winds up the Democratic nominee.
“I think this is a sad day for the country,” Abhyanker, 47, said of the Miami hearing, “for a former president to be in this process.”
Many Americans agree with Abhyanker but also feel that this “process” is a necessary one for the preservation of democracy and the rule of law — not to mention America’s national security.
The police also made their presence well known outside the courthouse.
Major Thomas Buchanan of the Miami-Dade Police Department said the county has “a lot” of officers nearby and at the ready. And while he refused to reveal the exact staffing number, but said it is accurate to say there are hundreds.
Police were seen removing a TV attached to a concrete pole with the message “F— the communist controlled news media” written on it before re-opening the area after a bomb threat was phoned in around 11am.
Wally Goodnough brought his Ford pick-up with an image of Mount Rushmore on the hood and the U.S. Constitution and a rifle on the sides and a message of . “Fight For Your Right” over the windshield from his home in Sarasota, Florida.
The trailer features a photo of Trump standing outside a jail cell, with some Democrats that the MAGA crowd loves to hate, including President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton behind the bars.
“Those guys in the back need to go to jail. Not Trump,” said Goodnough. “Let Trump go. Leave him alone.”
Not all the folks in attendance were fans 0f Trump . Osmani Estrada, a 40-year-old Cuban, showed up wrapped in an American flag, with “Libertad” — freedom — scrawled on a red hat on his head. He also was carrying the head of a dead pig on a wooden spike, with its tongue lolling out.
“I am an intelligent Cuban, I am not here to support Trump. The best argument against democracy is this: How can you ask the Cuban government to be democratic if you are supporting a person who is against democracy?” he commented. “The Cuban who votes for Trump is due to a lack of identity, they don’t know why they are in this country.”
“What a pity that there are not more people here. I thought that there would be more people enjoying themselves because this is democracy. Democracy is being made.”
Another Cuban American, Domenic Santana, who came to the U.S. at age 6 with his parents, carried a big sign reading “Lock Him Up.”
“Thank God that we are here, and this is what democracy is, which means that we can express our rights. In Cuba, we could not do this, or in Russia,” he remarked. “ I have to live with my daughter and my mother who are Trump supporters, I tell them they are blind. I am not blind, I grew up in New York, and I know what a rat is, and that rat slipped in and became president of the United States.”
As the case progresses beyond this arraignment and more Americans learn about what is exactly in the indictment, and how serious it is, it will be interesting to see how many continue to stick with the former POTUS.
