'Stop criming!' Dueling protests face off outside Trump trial

A handful of MAGA supporters who appeared outside former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial Friday were chanted down by a group of protesters chanting "Trump is not above the law."

The group Rise and Resist rallied across the street from the Manhattan court where Trump faces the first of four criminal court cases against him, as a small group of pro-Trump supporters quietly watched.

"New Yorkers have known he’s been a criminal since the '70s," said Julie DeLaurier, 67. "We knew exactly what he was: an excellent, excellent con man."'

On the other side of multiple police barriers, John, 76, from New Jersey, said he commuted to Manhattan to support the man he believes is the victim of a political witch hunt orchestrated by President Joe Biden, a claim Trump has repeatedly made without evidence.

"People are afraid to talk, John said, when asked about the diminutive size of the MAGA crowd. When asked if he was afraid, John replied, "What are they going to do to me?"

John said he hopes for a hung jury in the case and argued Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a locally elected official, was a pawn of the Justice Department.

"Alvin Bragg is a piece of c---," he said.

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On the other side of the barrier, DeLaurier said she and her group had been pushing the district attorney's office to prosecute Trump for a year.

"We were urging," DeLaurier said. "Now we’re here supporting."

DeLaurier scoffed her protesting counterpart's claim that Trump was being unfairly persecuted and argued he is taking part in a justice system to which all criminal defendants must submit.

"They’ll say, ‘If they can do this to him, they can do this to you," DeLaurier said. "That’s exactly right.

"Poor Donald is so persecuted? Stop criming!"

DeLaurier believes Trump has received inappropriate leniency from the New York court system, and pointed to a warning Trump received, that he could be put in jail over multiple violations of his gag order, as proof.

"This man is out on bail, DeLaurier said. "Anyone else would be remanded."

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Correction: The orginal version of this report misstated the period of time supporters said they'd been urging Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to prosecute former President Donald Trump. It was corrected on May 4, 2024, at 1 p.m.