Trump asks his supporters to demonstrate after a possible accusation against him

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump said on Saturday his arrest was imminent and issued an extraordinary plea to his supporters to protest.

And it is that all eyes are on Manhattan this week due to the possibility that Trump will be indicted by a grand jury investigating secret cash payments to women who alleged sex with the former president.

Although Trump’s attorney and spokesperson said there was no communication from prosecutors, Trump said in a post on his social media platform that he expects to be detained on Tuesday.

His message seemed designed to anticipate an official announcement from prosecutors and to fuel outrage among his fan base ahead of the widely expected charges. Within hours, his campaign was sending fundraising requests to his supporters, while influential Republicans in Congress and even some outspoken candidates and potential rivals issued statements in his defense.

In a later publication that was more than just urging leales to protest for their legal rights, the presidential candidate of 2024 directed to go general in letras mayúsculas a la administración de Biden y plantó la posibilidad de civil disturbances: “¡¡¡ IT’S TIME!!!” he wrote. “WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS ANY MORE. THEY KILL OUR NATION WHILE WE SIT AND WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”

All of this was ominously reminiscent of the rhetoric he used shortly before the uprising at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. After hearing from the then-president at a rally in Washington that morning , his supporters marched to the Capitol and attempted to stop Congressional certification. of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the White House, smashing the building’s doors and windows and leaving officers battered and bloodied.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg is believed to be considering charges in the secret money investigation and recently offered Trump the chance to testify before the grand jury. Local law enforcement officials are bracing for the public safety ramifications of an unprecedented lawsuit against a former US president.

Law enforcement conducted preliminary security assessments, five senior officials familiar with the discussions said Friday, to discuss possible plans for and around the Manhattan Criminal Court.

Any plan would include perimeter security around the courthouse and several hundred additional officers on site to help manage any potential protests at locations around the city.

Officials stress that the interagency talks and planning are pre-emptive in nature as no charges have been filed. Agencies involved include the NYPD, New York State Court officials, the US Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, authorities said.

An interagency security meeting is expected to take place on Monday ahead of a possible indictment in the coming days.

Our sister station NBC News reached out to all of those agencies for comment, but all declined to comment.

In an internal email after Trump’s remarks, Bragg said law enforcement would ensure the 1,600 people who work in his office remain safe and that “any specific or credible threat” would make the subject of an investigation.

“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York City,” he wrote, adding, “In the meantime, as with all of our investigations, we will continue to enforce the law in a fair and equitable manner, and speak publicly only when appropriate.

No deadline has been publicly announced for the secret grand jury’s work on the case. At least one additional witness is expected to testify, further indicating that no vote has yet been taken to indict, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke out on condition of anonymity.