A spectacle of anger, star power outside courthouse at Trump arraignment

A chaotic spectacle of political anger and celebrity absurdity engulfed lower Manhattan Tuesday as enthusiastic supporters of former President Donald Trump clashed with fervent counterprotesters, verbally and physically, outside the courthouse where the 45th president was arraigned on charges he made hush-money payments to a pornographic film star and a former Playboy model.

In an "only in New York," scene, a man dressed as President Abraham Lincoln ad-libbed a bit with a Trump impersonator not far from the Naked Cowboy as throngs of news media members snapped their cameras inside Collect Pond Park, the 0.99-acre oasis of concrete across from the Centre Street courthouse.

Embattled Long Island Rep. George Santos, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, both Republicans, and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Bronx Democrat, each held court with reporters and supporters, but quickly exited as the scene became more animated.

While there were occasional scuffles between pro and anti-Trump contingents, the NYPD said they had no confirmed arrests from the protest scene.

Nicholas Suarez, 32, of Islip, wearing a T-shirt with a Long Island silhouette in red, white and blue, called the case "a political witch hunt. I believe the charges are trumped up. This sets a bad precedent for politics moving forward. It’s just bad for the country.”

On the other side of the park, Aman Islam, 20, of Valley Stream, a political science major at Pace University, described Tuesday as "a moment where I can confidently say that no one is above the law … I’m glad that accountability is finally coming to Donald Trump."

Republican support

Santos (R-Nassau/Queens), who has been pressured to resign because he lied about his background, arrived a block from the courthouse Tuesday morning, pursued by a horde of television cameras. The North Shore congressman said he was there to support Trump, who he contends was unfairly charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Santos told a Newsday reporter that his constituents need "to see that their representative supports the rule of law. I'm talking to you because you talk to my people. Because this DA refuses to take criminals off the street but wants to stretch a misdemeanor into a felony."

Greene, a lighting rod for controversy during her short stint in Congress, spoke briefly through a bullhorn, although her remarks were largely drowned out by counter-protestors.

Trump supporters, opponents rally

The case stems from hush money payments made in 2016 to prevent porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal from discussing sexual affairs with Trump, and a third to a former Trump Tower door attendant, who claimed to have a story about a child the former president had out of wedlock.

The former president has denied sexual contact with Daniels and McDougal and dismissed the indictment as a “witch hunt." He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump, 76, who became the first president in U.S. history to face criminal charges, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in November.

Pam Levy, who grew up in Port Washington, attended the protest wearing a “Trump Keep America Great 2020” hat and stood at the edge of the crowd surrounding Greene.

“I know these are bogus charges,” she said, arguing they're meant to stop Trump's 2024 candidacy. “Nobody else went after this because they knew the charges were so flimsy.”

Those in support of the former president outnumbered the smaller crowd of critics, some of whom held signs saying “Trump 4 Prison” and “Lock him up.”

Across from the courthouse, dozens of people began lining up before dawn Tuesday — all aiming to get a seat in the courtroom for the unprecedented hearing.

Number 75 in line was Trump critic Ethan Reed, 19, of Great Neck, who is on a gap semester from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. He drove in from Long Island with his father. 

“I thought it would be cool,” Reed said of the opportunity to get inside the courtroom. “This has never happened before.”

The NYPD, FBI and court officials beefed up security before Trump’s appearance, closing several streets near the courthouse to traffic. An NYPD officer zip-tied barricades together so demonstrators — pro-Trump assigned to one side of the park, anti-Trump to the north — couldn't throw barricades at each other, he said. 

Supporters and protesters also gathered outside of Trump Tower.

Susan Cerbo of Middletown, New Jersey, abandoned plans to celebrate her 55th birthday on the Jersey Shore to support Trump.

"This is so unfair," she said of the indictment. "This is not the way our country should be going. This should not be politicized, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican."

Sandy Radoff of Manhattan said she was celebrating because a grand jury of "regular New Yorkers reviewed the evidence and believed there is enough there to indict Trump. That means to me that part of our democracy is working."

Julie DeLaurier of Brooklyn, held a sign showing Trump in striped prison clothes behind bars.

"He tried to overthrow our democracy and he's finally seeing the inside of a courtroom," DeLaurier said. " … The man will finally be held accountable."