Though the day started off uneventfully, with reporters mulling around rows of makeshift canopies and few members of the public present, a cavalcade of characters began to roll in around 8 a.m., not unlike when the roustabouts rumble into town to set up the creaking carnival rides and the rigged game booths.
One of the first to arrive was Maurice "Michael" Symonette, an outspoken Trump supporter and former member of the cult of Hulon Mitchell Jr. (AKA Yahweh ben Yahweh). Mitchell was convicted of a murder conspiracy in 1992. Symonette and six of his fellow Yahweh followers were acquitted.
After handing out flyers claiming the members of his group are immortal descendants of the Israelites, Symonette — who calls himself "Michael the Black Man" — and 15 or so of his brethren gathered in front of the courthouse to decry the felony case in which Trump is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and willful retention of classified documents, among other counts.
Evidently, this gentleman posted up outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in downtown Miami wants to see Trump in horizontal stripes.
Photo by Naomi Feinstein
The scene grew more colorful in the following hour, with Trump detractors and supporters weaving their way through reporters who were waiting for the courthouse to open.
A man draped in an American flag and wielding a pig's head on a stake strolled nearby. Identifying himself as "Osmany," the man said the disembodied head, which was dripping a pinkish fluid, was intended as a symbol from William Golding's 1954 allegorical novel Lord of the Flies.
"Something amazing is going on today, unique. This is fun but it's sad too," Osmany told New Times. "I don't care about [Trump]. I'm happy that democracy is working. Dictators are not the problem. It's the followers."
By 9 a.m., a man had rigged a TV monitor to a utility pole on the sidewalk outside the courthouse, broadcasting the message, "Fuck the communist-controlled news media." The rig was unattended and apparently prompted security concerns, as law enforcement cordoned off the area and removed it.
Also on hand: Laura Loomer, a former Florida congressional candidate and far-right media figure. In her view, the U.S. Department of Justice is "trying to jail Trump because they realize he's stronger than ever."These two are hanging up a tv: pic.twitter.com/GcYHkDjQVa
— Naomi Feinstein (@naomifeinstein) June 13, 2023
"They're talking about classified information and the reality is it would be one thing if we had equal application of the law in this country but we have a two-tiered system," Loomer added. "What about Joe Biden and the classified documents found in his sports car?"
Trump is expected in court at 3 p.m. He is accused of illegally retaining classified documents, including information about the U.S. nuclear weapons programs. Documents were found scattered around his Palm Beach resort and residence, Mar-a-Lago, and federal prosecutors claim he conspired to obstruct the investigation into his handling of classified material following his presidency.
Jack Smith, special counsel appointed to investigate the case, said in a press conference last week, "We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone."
"Applying those laws, collecting facts, that's what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more and nothing less," Smith said.
When the courthouse opened around 8:30 a.m., a swarm of reporters and members of the public lined up to enter. The line stagnated in the morning heat, and many of those waiting began dripping with sweat.Louis Medina, 57, from Palmetto Bay: pic.twitter.com/iUvASuwzrt
— Naomi Feinstein (@naomifeinstein) June 13, 2023
By then, dozens of officers and security personnel were stationed near the courthouse. A security checkpoint cordoned off by multiple Miami Police Department vehicles, blocked the ordinary entranceway. A sniffer dog was deployed to inspect bags.
At one point, a truck carrying police wearing counterterrorism-unit vests drove past.
Before noon, tensions mounted between Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators as the opposing groups began shouting at each other. Domenic Santana, the man dressed in a black-and-white jail outfit and holding a "Lock him up" sign, was flanked by Miami police, who attempted to create a barrier between him and a pro-Trump crowd that had surrounded him.
Violence nearly broke out about an hour before Trump's hearing, when a tall man in a gray shirt struck an anti-Trump protester's "Lock him up" poster and tried to order her to leave. Members of the crowd, who at that point were mostly attendees of a rally organized by Loomer, tried to defuse the situation by yelling, "She has the right! She has the right!"
Only about 20 people from the public and press will be permitted to sit in the courtroom where Trump is expected to be arraigned.
Hundreds more seats are available, in a jury assembly room on the fifth floor of the building. The federal court tightened its already strict policy on allowing electronics in the building; reporters were banned from bringing in phones, laptops, or Apple watches. News of the proceedings will be reported the old-fashioned way, scribbled on paper as the hearing plays out.
A day earlier, many news organizations feared there wouldn't be enough seats in the overflow room. Some media outlets resorted to paying people to stand in line outside to get on the list for admission.
One Miami man, who noted he had little interest in journalism or politics, said he'd answered an ad from a major news outlet on Monday, a vague, urgent listing on Taskrabbit, offering $25 an hour.
“All it said was just to wait in a line. When I saw all the news trucks, I actually wanted to leave,” Omotayo Mogaji told New Times. “I didn’t know I was getting into all this.”
His shift was from 2:30 to 6 p.m. While he’d picked up gigs on Taskrabbit in the past, it was his first time seeing this sort of position.
“I didn’t want anyone to even know I was doing this,” Mogaji said. “It’s not really for me.”
