Diehard Donald Trump supporters were literally praying outside of Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday for the embattled former president to be found innocent, but the afternoon’s verdict was not the result they were looking for as the former president was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial, which Trump later said was “rigged.”
The verdict was rendered after 9 1/2 hours of deliberations on May 30 and exposes Trump to potential prison time when he faces sentencing on July 11. He is expected to appeal the verdict and will face an awkward dynamic as he seeks to return to the campaign trail as a convicted felon.
Unheard prayers
Mere hours before the verdict came through, the deliberations for the infamous Hush Money trial were well into the second day, still, ride-or-die Trump champions huddled together in Collect Pond Park, where a group of women could be observed praying that the impeached president be found innocent of paying off porn star Stormy Daniels while others could be heard muttering to themselves dangling rosaries.
Lillian Hung, 78, told amNewYork Metro she traveled each day from Flushing, Queens, to host the prayer circle and wave to Trump’s motorcade as it drove by.
“We pray for Trump to be found not guilty,” Hung said after raising her hands to the sky. “He takes care of America, he loves America.”
Nearby, police again had to break up several scuffles after MAGA demonstrators pushed and grabbed at those who rebuked Trump as a dangerous conman. amNewYork Metro observed several people being removed from the scene.
‘I did my job’
While Trump followers see him as a man who could do no wrong, the jury did not see it that way.
While his supporters cried out in anguish after the verdict was announced just after 5 p.m. Thursday, others threw their fists in the air in joy for what many said was “justice finally served.”
“This is good! It was the conviction we were all hedging on. We got it,” Debbie Cirallo said, shouting happily. “We have justice! We won. Democracy is here for Americans.”
“This says that we have a fair, equal justice system,” Cirallo added.
One man, who identified himself as Lenny, saw the irony that Trump, who previously called for Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned for unspecified crimes, now faces the same fate.
“He said she should be locked up. He deserves it now. Trump should be locked up now,” Lenny said.
Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg held a press conference to announce the verdict before a room overflowing with local and national media.
Despite the gravity of the case, Bragg conducted himself just as he had done before whenever announcing a conviction of someone of violating the public trust — even as, in this instance, the convicted is a former U.S. president.
“Over the course of the past several weeks, a jury of 12 everyday New Yorkers were presented with overwhelming evidence — including invoices, checks, bank statements, audio recordings, phone logs, text messages and direct testimony from 22 witnesses — that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Trump illegally falsified 34 New York business records,” Bragg said. “Mr. Trump went to illegal lengths to lie repeatedly in order to protect himself and his campaign.”
When asked about the many opinions being spewed over this controversial trial, Bragg stated that he was simply doing his job.
“I did my job. Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor and that’s exactly what we did here. And what I feel is gratitude to work alongside phenomenal public servants who do that each and every day,” Bragg said. “I did my job. We did our job. Many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken.”
The ‘rigged’ defense
Moments after being convicted on 34 felony counts, Trump appeared before cameras and microphones outside the court room and returned to his most trusted defense mechanism — alleging his indictment, prosecution and trial by jury were somehow “rigged” against him.
Without offering any evidence, Trump alleged that the presiding judge, Juan Merchan, was “corrupt.” He further insinuated that because he only won “5 or 6%” of the vote last time in Manhattan, the jury’s conviction was somehow politically motivated.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump then claimed that “the real verdict is going to be Nov. 5,” the date of the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters admonished the guilty verdict, maintaining that he did nothing wrong, and stated that the trial was a mere farce to derail the presidential election.
“What did he do? Nothing!” said Jake, who did not want to share his last name, as he burst into tears, overcome with emotion after the verdict was announced.
