MIAMI — The sweltering heat and heightened security did not deter former President Donald Trump’s loyal base from rallying in front of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse for his historic arraignment on 37 felony counts that could send him to prison.
Mr. Trump, 76, pleaded not guilty to charges he illegally took classified documents from the White House when he left office in 2021 and shared them with unauthorized people.
A group of his supporters who gathered a few steps from the courthouse doors said that was exactly how he should plead. Mr. Trump is being targeted by the Biden administration and a politicized Justice Department, they said, and he is innocent of all the charges.
“It’s an unjust, rogue Department of Justice, and it’s unequal treatment,” said Daniel Stolworthy, who flew to Miami from South Hampton, New Hampshire, to show his support for Mr. Trump.
Mr. Stolworthy, who was decked out in a red Trump hat and a Stars and Stripes suit and tie, warned that the country is at a tipping point and is “ready to fall off this cliff.” He said Mr. Trump, who is leading in the Republican primary polls and beats President Biden in some general election polls, can turn it around.
“We have to be willing to stand up and fight for what we believe, every one of us,” Mr. Stolworthy said.
While Mr. Trump huddled with his legal team a few miles away at his Doral resort, hundreds of media assembled in front of the courthouse with their trucks, tents, cameras and other equipment awaiting the former president to arrive.
The media easily outnumbered the Trump supporters in the morning but the square near the courthouse became increasingly populated with the pro-Trump faction as the day wore on.
Patrick Mangan, who ran Mr. Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign in northern Indiana, flew to Miami from South Bend to rally for Mr. Trump in front of the courthouse. Mr. Mangan said Mr. Trump should not be charged with any crime because he had the authority while president to declassify all of the documents he took to his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Mr. Mangan said the Justice Department is not applying the law equally, since it did not charge then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for destroying State Department emails she stored on a private server.
The DOJ has also so far declined to charge Mr. Biden over the many boxes of classified documents found in his possession dating back to his time as a senator.
“We have seen an entire miscarriage of justice in our country,” Mr. Mangan said. “And that’s why I’m here to stand at the Miami federal courthouse to say, ‘If any of these laws that are being applied right now to President Trump were applied in any way, shape or form to Hillary while she was in office or was applied to any of those who have hidden or destroyed classified documents, they would all be in jail.’”
Mr. Trump was greeted by U.S. Marshals when he arrived at the courthouse to face the charges. He entered the courthouse through a tunnel adjoining the courthouse rather than through the main doors, but from his motorcade did glimpse the circus out front.
Some of the demonstrators were anti-Trump.
Domenic Santana, who owned the legendary Stone Pony music club in Asbury Park before retiring to Miami, joined the crowd at the courthouse in a striped prison suit he ordered on Amazon. He said he paid extra to have it overnighted to his home. The suit cost $60 as did his large, orange “lock him up” sign.
Mr. Santana purchased a pair of handcuffs, which dangled from one wrist.
“I had to go out last night and run all over Miami to get the handcuffs,” he said.
No fan of Mr. Trump, Mr. Santana, 61, said he showed up in his prison garb because he believes the former president is “a rat” and “a con artist” who should have been jailed before he won the 2016 election.
After the arraignment, when Mr. Trump’s motorcade drove past the crowd, Mr. Santana bounded onto the street next to the black SUV carrying the former president. He was quickly tackled by law enforcement officers and then led away in handcuffs after the motorcade passed.
A Cuban native, Mr. Santana said earlier told The Washington Times that Mr. Trump hurt the communist island by reversing policies put in place by the Obama administration that opened the country up to U.S. tourism and trade.
“He took it all away,” Mr. Santana said.
Mr. Stolworthy said his message is not meant for the television cameras, and not necessarily for Mr. Trump to see.
“It’s more important to make a statement to myself, and to my children and to my family,” he said. “To let them know that we have to defend America. It’s not the America that I grew up in. Yeah. And I’ve got grandchildren.”
Mr. Stolworthy said he believes people stayed away from the courthouse Tuesday out of fear they’ll end up in jail like many of the protesters who were at the U.S. Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
“That’s also part of what the current leadership has done to scare people,” Mr. Stolworthy said. “People are so scared and I said, ‘I’m not going to be intimidated.’”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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