According to Secret Service sources
“Dozens and dozens of agents” will be needed for protect Donald Trump’s move from Mar-a-Lago to New York and then to the courthouse in Manhattan, where he will surrender to the judicial authorities. This is what sources from the Secret Service reveal, the body responsible for the protection of presidents and former presidents which is preparing a challenge that has never before been faced: to accompany a former president to be arrested.
With Trump’s trip to New York scheduled for Monday, the day before the hearing set for Tuesday, a team from the New York Secret Service office yesterday already conducted a site visit at the Manhattan courthouse to verify the safer ways in and out of the building.
The director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, also yesterday illustrated to her team the plan aimed at taking all “necessary measures” to protect Trump from any possible danger, placing agents in a bubble around him to prevent anyone from approaching him. But she also wanted to underline that no favorable treatment was requested with respect to the standard procedures for handing over an accused person to the authorities. Not even the closure of the courthouse to the public would have been required.
Secret Service agents will be responsible for keeping Trump safe as he enters and exits the building. While for his movements inside, in addition to his bodyguards, there will be the court security service to accompany him in the various phases, which include mugshots and fingerprinting, before entering the courtroom court, at 14.15 local time, 20.15 in Italy, where the judge Juan Merchan will notify him of the charges. To which he will plead not guilty, as anticipated by his lawyers.
To guarantee security outside the courthouse and along the route that Trump’s procession will have to cover, there will be a massive New York police device that will ensure the closure of several roads in the area. The department has already given instructions to the agents who usually operate in plain clothes to wear the uniform that day to better control any protests.
The Capitol Police are also on alert for fears that protests could also occur in front of the Capitol, the scene of the dramatic assault by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. “Even if the police are not encountering any specific, credible threat against Capitol Hill, protest rallies are possible,” he said.
Source-www.adnkronos.com