A circus-like buzz permeated the blocks surrounding the Manhattan courthouse April 4 as a crowd gathered for Trump’s arrival and arraignment. It was less than festive inside where the former president set a precedent as the first to be indicted on criminal charges in a courtroom presided over by a no-nonsense Justice Juan Merchan. Trump, sometimes referred to as 45, is now saddled with 34 felony charges, and as expected he pled not guilty to all of them.
“Karma,” was the initial response upon hearing last week’s news of the Trump indictment from Yusef Salaam, who is one of the now Exonerated Five. Known at the time as the Central Park Five, the group of teens were falsely accused of the infamous 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park. Real estate mogul, and all around NYC social butterflyTrump took out full page ads in the dailies suggesting that they get the death penalty.
“It is ironic but fitting that Trump was arraigned in the same building as were the Central Park 5,” Attorney Roger Wareham, activist, and December 12th Movement International Secretariat told the Amsterdam News. “But make no mistake the conditions he was arrested under are vastly different. It’s good to be rich and white in the U.S. However, I’m confident that DA Bragg has put together a web that Trump won’t be able to extricate himself from.”
The 16-page indictment cut immediately to the chase, beginning with “The People of the State of New York against Donald Trump” and noting that the Grand Jury “accuses the defendant of the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree,” all in caps. Trump the grand jury declared “with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise….”
Many pundits speculated that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had something more than the charge of the hush money Trump paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and the other shoe, so to speak, fell with a considerable thud as Trump looked on with disdain, clearly disgusted by proceedings he had already determined were a “witch hunt.” He had predicted his arrest perhaps hoping to rouse and provoke his base which outside the courthouse was matched in number by the police and the press.
Attorney Michael Cohen is mentioned 11 times in the indictment, mainly for invoices of an indeterminate amount and unspecified recipients; these and other details are sure to be fleshed out when the trial convenes sometime next year. Both Cohen and Daniels are sure to be star witnesses.
If Trump was fuming at the deliberations in the courtroom, where once again he is under the gavel of Justice Merchan, he kept his responses short. That was not the case later, however, as he raged about the situation, calling the entire episode “an insult to our country, and the world is laughing at us.”
That same “laughing world” is waiting to see how the indictment, his arrest and arraignment play out in the upcoming presidential election, and will either power his bid to return to the White House or see it fizzle out as prosecutors assemble more evidence, including those in Georgia and the DOJ.
There were brief scuffles among supporters for Trump and those declaring he was not about the law. Overall it paled in comparison to the turnout and actions of the Jan. 6 mob, many of whom are currently being tried, convicted and jailed.
Despite killer tornadoes bearing down on the American Midwest on Tuesday, mainstream media focused on and devoured every scintilla of the Trump show, and ‘interpreted’ it for the populace. Black grassroot activists questioned the real significance for the broader Black community.
“To hell with Trump! Send him to jail! Let’s focus on poverty, unemployment, homelessness, crime, education and healthcare in the Black Community,” Brooklyn City Council Man Charles Barron told the Amsterdam News. “Greedy capitalism has gone mad! Trump is a distraction!”
Molloy UniversityAdjunct Professor Casilda E. Roper-Simpson told the Amsterdam News, “After more than 20 years of practicing criminal defense law and presently teaching criminal justice as an adjunct professor, I acknowledge the historical significance of the arrest of the former president, Donald Trump. It is worth noting that the criminal justice system is intended to guarantee that anyone accused of a crime has the opportunity to have their day in court and that the proceedings are conducted fairly and impartially.”
Divine Allah, a recent Trenton city council candidate, told the Amsterdam News. “We have to address the politicized theatrics that is surrounding Donald Trump. Any idea of significance or benefit for our community is temporary or just to appease people used to entertainment, as the white male power structure reaps every economic and political profit out of this. None of the profit, the privilege, and the accolades benefit any of us. Our struggle is for some of the basic human, civil, social and economic rights that we are still denied.”
The Jersey-based community activist and youth minister of the New Black Panther Party continued, “Our people strive to connect the dots to things that directly affect our communities. We don’t focus on those political activists who have been on lockdown for decades like the Mumia Abu Jamals, because of the politricks of those like Trump who govern this country. When I see Trump indicted, fingerprinted, and arraigned, it reminds us of how far they will go to out-do and vilify each other, at the end of the day it has no bearing on the issues that affect our people. The prison population, mostly Black and brown, are the stepping stones upon which they use to play this political theater for their own political capitalist gain.
“Not one member of our community benefits from this economically or politically.”
Meanwhile, he added, “We should be aware of all distractions. They denied the appeal of a physically unwell Mumia Abu Jamal, who has been behind the wall for 40 years, while we were focusing on this, they just denied his sixth appeal. They slid that under the radar.
“While we are embedded in this twisted, inherited tribalism of Democrats and Republicans we are still beholden to the capitalist system because of wretched consumerism. This Trump distraction is their fight going on. We are an underclass with no stake in this, yet we are cheering for one side or the other like it benefits us. Where? We are not a part of this.”
A number of criminal cases are being prepared against Trump including the federal obstruction Department of Justice case, the Washington D.C. January 6th investigation, and Georgia state election obstruction, and the discovery of highly sensitive top secret papers at his Florida home.
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said, “If America is to remain a vibrant democracy and be a nation of laws, our laws must be applied universally. And so, today is a moment of both pride and pain for our country. The presidency is meant to represent our highest ideals as Americans. To witness an individual who once held that sacred title fall to such contemptible lows will leave a scar not easily healed—but we must find reassurance in the fact that our justice system has refused to allow former President Trump to escape the consequences of his alleged actions.
“Keeping in mind Donald Trump’s long history of flagrant contempt for the precious right of due process and the rule of law, it is my sincere hope that he receives a fair trial and just treatment during the adjudication of the numerous charges against him. I look forward to seeing all evidence that would shed light on Mr. Trump’s alleged crimes come to light.”
With the next Trump court date in the Bragg case not scheduled until December, and with the former president running for the office for 2024, there are bound to be legal and election news stories ad nauseum.