Alert court security prevented what could have been a potential hit on Donald Trump in court on Wednesday. An employee of the Manhattan court was arrested after “approaching the bench” in an attempt to get close to the former president.
Disruption of Trump trial
The court employee claimed she wanted to “talk” to former President Trump but her employers didn’t like the stunt one bit.
Spokesperson Lucian Chalfen notes officially that the unnamed individual “disrupted the trial by standing up and walking toward the front of the courtroom, yelling out to Trump and indicating that she wanted to ‘assist him.‘”
Court officers quickly stopped the person before she got anywhere close to Trump or his lawyers and “none of the parties were ever in any danger,” Chalfen relates.
A court employee was arrested Wednesday after she tried to approach former Pres. Trump while he was seated in the courtroom during his civil trial in lower Manhattan. https://t.co/ea8mH49Tbk
— ABC News (@ABC) October 18, 2023
They didn’t know she was a court employee at the time. She’s been “charged with contempt of court in the second degree, which is disrupting a court proceeding.”
For safety, the overly friendly worker has been placed on “immediate administrative leave” pending an investigation. On top of that, they’re “prohibited from entering any facility of the New York State Unified Court System.”
That order stays in place “until further notice.” No further information is available. The important thing is that once and future President Donald Trump is safe and sound.
Commotion barely noticed
Donald Trump appeared at his trial for alleged fraud in person, even though he isn’t required to be there. Court staff cornered the interloper so efficiently that one of Trump’s attorneys didn’t even notice the disturbance.
“Lawyer Chris Kise indicated to The Hill that he didn’t notice a commotion in the courtroom Wednesday.”
Despite requests for comment, New York Attorney General Letitia James isn’t talking about the incident. Her office sued Trump along with his organization and two adult sons. They allege “decades of fraud.”
UPDATE: The arrested woman is a NY court employee. She is charged with contempt of court, disrupting a court proceeding.
She approached the front of the courtroom and indicated she “wanted to assist” Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/1YDT56iG9w
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) October 18, 2023
Defense lawyers call it business as usual. There’s also the fact that nobody has been injured by any of the alleged activity.
Prosecutors claim the Trump Organization falsely inflated and deflated the value of its assets to receive lower taxes and better insurance coverage. The former president denies any wrongdoing.
He describes what’s going on in New York as “a politically motivated witch hunt and both James and the trial judge as biased against him.” It also seems to be an excuse to set up an assassination attempt.
