Just now on front page of NY Times:
By
Jesse McKinley
- April 4, 2023Updated 11:36 a.m. ET
Supporters and opponents of former President Donald J. Trump gathered in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, galvanized by his impending arraignment, in a tense display of passions surrounding Mr. Trump, who is currently the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidate in 2024.
Scores of demonstrators from both sides began amassing hours before Mr. Trump, 76, was due at the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building, with a pro-Trump rally outside the courthouse headlined by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican from Georgia.
Wearing sunglasses and speaking into a megaphone, Ms. Greene delivered brief remarks, attacking Democrats as “communists” and “failures” and reeling off a list of her and her party’s policy positions.
“We’re the party that wants to protect the lives of the unborn, we’re the party of male and female, two genders only,” said Ms. Greene, who had been invited to Manhattan by the New York Young Republican Club. “We’re the party of secure borders. We’re the party that will bring peace to the world like President Trump did, not World War III, like Joe Biden is doing.”
The appearance by Ms. Greene, who supports conspiracy theories and has falsely suggested that Democrats support pedophilia, had brought a crush of onlookers and counterprotesters.
Police were separating pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators in Collect Pond Park, keeping an aisle — and an array of officers — between the two groups, who were largely peaceful, though at least one
small skirmish broke out. Ms. Greene’s arrival was accompanied by heavy security.
“Go back to Georgia!” one person shouted.
Some Trump supporters started chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” as the congresswoman concluded her remarks. Several Trump opponents banged on the windows of her car as it pulled away.