Donald Trump set to be arraigned in Manhattan court on Tuesday
New York, Apr 3: Donald Trump is set to be arraigned on Tuesday after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury on charges arising from hush money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 campaign, making him the first former US president to face a criminal charge and upending his bid to retake the White House in 2024.
The 76-year-old is expected to fly to New York City from his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday and plans to return back to his resort in Florida following his court hearing, where he will address his supporters on Tuesday night, his office said Sunday.
"I will be leaving Mar-a-Lago on Monday at 12 noon, heading to Trump Tower in New York. On Tuesday morning I will be going to, believe it or not, the Courthouse. America was not supposed to be this way!" Trump wrote on his social media account on Truth Social Sunday, as the city braces for demonstrations from his supporters and protestors in the wake of the unprecedented criminal indictment of a former president.
Trump, who is the first former US president to face a criminal charge, will be arraigned on Tuesday. The proceeding is expected to be brief. The charges in the indictment will be read to him at the hearing, which is set to last about 10-15 minutes.
He has denied all wrongdoing in connection with the payments made to Daniels, 44, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump will appear before Judge Juan Merchan at 2.15 pm EST (11:45 pm IST) on Tuesday. American media has quoted Trump's attorneys as saying that the former president will plead not guilty.
After his court appearance, Trump will immediately fly back to Florida where he will deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach later Tuesday.
The grand jury on Thursday voted to indict Trump, a Republican, for his role in paying money to porn star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to buy her silence over an alleged affair. The indictment remains under seal and it is not clear what crimes and how many criminal counts Trump has been charged with. CNN reported that the former president has been charged with more than 30 counts.
Trump has called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is bringing the criminal charges against him, as "corrupt" and said he has "no case. What he does have is a venue where it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a Fair Trial (it must be changed!), and a Trump-hating Judge, hand selected by the Soros-backed D.A. (he must be changed!). Also has the DOJ working in the D.A.'s Office - Unprecedented!"
It is expected that Trump will be processed before appearing in court, and his fingerprints and mugshot will be taken. In a report in The Guardian, Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said, "I'm sure they'll try to get every ounce of publicity from this thing."
He added that the "president will not be put in handcuffs. I'm sure they'll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him."
Outlining the scene at the courthouse as Trump makes his appearance, Tacopina said the courthouse is expected to close as Trump arrives. He will appear in front of a judge and plead not guilty. His team will file motions against the indictment, arguing against "the legal liability of this case".
According to a report in Politico, Tacopina said Sunday that he eventually expects to move to dismiss the charges against the former president.
"I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there's no law that fits this," Tacopina told Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union."
"We're not doing anything at the arraignment because that would be showmanship and nothing more because we haven't even seen the indictment yet. We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every every potential issue that we will be able to challenge and we will challenge," he said.
The New York Police Department as well as the Secret Service, tasked with the protection of the former president, are coordinating to ensure that the entire proceedings go through without law and order disruptions. Security is expected to be very tight outside the courthouse when Trump arrives and leaves. Barricades have been put in place amid heavy NYPD presence around the courthouses in lower Manhattan.
Last week on Thursday, news of a grand jury voting to indict Trump ignited mixed responses from New Yorkers, with some hailing the development as "spectacular" while others slamming it as a "political witch hunt" from which the ex-president will emerge stronger.
About 6.5 kilometers from the Lower Manhattan courthouses where the grand jury decided to indict Trump, the scene outside the Trump Tower in the upscale Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was sombre and quiet.
It was inside this popular Manhattan building in June 2015 when Trump descended the "golden escalators" into a crowd of supporters and media persons to announce his presidential run.
On the chilly Thursday evening, barring a couple of New York Police Department (NYPD) patrol vehicles, barricades lining the sidewalk and some reporters and camera persons, the scene outside Trump Tower was uneventful.
New Yorkers and tourists strolled by the building, some stopping only briefly to take pictures of the multi-story glass tower, which is ensconced among the world's most luxurious brands on 5th Avenue, and that bears Trump's name.
"As far as Trump being indicted is concerned, sure they'll handcuff him, they'll take a mugshot and then he will be good to go. This has made Trump's base stronger," New York activist Susan-Anne Miller told PTI outside the Trump Tower.
"By the time the case goes to trial, he will be President again," she said.
She said prosecutors have a weak case against Trump. "There was no case, they were trying to find a way to work it around so that they could hold him. This is a political witch hunt and in the end, he will be proven innocent," she said.
Miller said there will be no riots from Trump supporters in the aftermath of the indictment.
An elderly couple said it was "about time" that Trump was indicted.
Charle Earlston, a lawyer and veteran, said he had hoped to see more crowds of protestors and supporters outside the Trump Tower after the indictment news.
The indictment is "symbolic" of where the country is at right now, he said.
"The Democratic Party and their allies have been wanting to get Trump indicted on something, whatever it was, for the better part of about eight years now," he said.
Benjamin Adams, a New Yorker, said the Trump indictment was going to divide the American people even more. "I think the country has a lot more pressing issues at the moment than to worry about this," he said.
Al Mason, Indian-American Trump supporter, real estate businessman and co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian-American Finance Committee, told PTI that the charges against Trump are "100 per cent political."
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
