How the scene unfolded outside the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump was arraigned

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Reactions from outside the NY courthouse where Trump was arraigned

Through the chaos, ABC7 I-Team's Dan Noyes did his best to talk to as many people as possible about why they came. Here's what they had to say.

NEW YORK (KGO) -- Hundreds of reporters, photographers, and producers from around the world spread out across the street from the criminal court building in Lower Manhattan. For a brief time Tuesday, they outnumbered the protesters, but not for long.

Some chanted, "Lock him up. Lock him up."

The NYPD kept it under control, generally, but Trump supporter Susan Miller describes a confrontation, "It was like you were in the middle of a riot, I was shoved, I couldn't breathe, they were stepping on my feet, I thought I was going to pass out. It was total chaotic."

Police tried to keep Trump supporters on one side of a fence, a safe zone between, and protestors on the other side.

The I-Team's Dan Noyes watched one protestor shout, "You people are why America is going down the toilet."

"You're saying I'm calling you names, you're calling me names," another protestor added.

One Trump supporter called for the police.

Through the chaos, we did our best to talk to as many people as possible about why they came.

"President Trump stands up for us American citizens, so I feel it's also important that I show support for him, and stand up for him as well," Paulina Farr said.

DAN NOYES: "You feel like this is a win?"

KAREN IRWIN: "I feel like this is the first step and were taking the win today just to be like, okay! You all want to pretend like this democracy works? This is the first step."

Susan Miller countered, "This is a political witch hunt, another one, to try and stop him from running, but nothing is going to stop President Trump. He is innocent, he is innocent."

Shirley Ng tols us, "I just want him to go to prison, he's not a good person, he's not great for America, he's awful for America."

WATCH: The latest on the Trump indictment

Eyewitness News reporter N.J. Burkett has a breakdown of Trump's arraignment outside of the Manhattan Criminal Court.

One guy walked right into the middle of the Trump supporters and tried satire to make his point.

"We don't trust those teachers to teach critical race theory or gender ideology, and we should also give them guns, because we don't trust them so much," he said.

A surprise visit -- George Santos, the freshman Republican congressman embroiled in controversy over lies told during his campaign, walked by the courthouse to show support for Trump.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was there at the request of the New York Young Republicans, but a combination of a poor megaphone and whistles by protesters, Greene couldn't be heard well. She called Democrats "communists" and "failures" and left after just a few minutes.

"They are organizing more and more officers out, the street is blocked off, it looks like the former president's arrival is imminent," Dan Noyes reported from the courthouse.

The view was very difficult - cameras stacked up for the best angle.

As he headed to court this afternoon, Donald Trump messaged on social media, "Seems so surreal - Wow, they are going to arrest me."

And, he was. The former president will continue to campaign for the oval office, as he prepares for his next court date in December on those 34 felony charges.