The eyes of the world were on Lower Manhattan on Tuesday as former President Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
A massive police presence was in place as groups of pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators gathered in the streets near the Manhattan Criminal Court, with a police helicopter whirring overhead. Throngs of media were tightly packed in front of the court, with photographers clambering onto scaffolding in an attempt to catch a shot of Trump entering and leaving the building.
A noisy group of flag-waving Trump supporters was in place in front of the court, while a block away, anti-Trump protesters chanted “No one is above the law!” A man briefly yelled at them from across the street, while a woman nearby proudly waved a Trump flag at them.
Related: Former President Trump charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records
This was a melee of media and protesters. For a city that’s no stranger to spectacles, this was one of its strangest. Into this charged atmosphere, Trump’s motorcade briefly appeared in a frenzy of flashing lights before disappearing down a side street to reach the courthouse.
In the media areas in front of the court, camera crews and photographers strained to get a view of Trump down the narrow street next to the court building, with a large black van from his motorcade largely obscuring their view.
After pleading not guilty at the extraordinary hearing, Trump and his team darted out of the courthouse into the waiting cars, and the motorcade took to the side streets again, avoiding the massed crowds. A block away, just a few minutes after the motorcade sped past, a happy couple emerged from an ornate doorway in the Louis J. Lefkowitz Building, home of the Manhattan Marriage Bureau. They posed for photos, smiling, just a few feet away from where Trump’s motorcade had rushed by.
Not your typical rally: While Donald Trump was arrested, the scene outside turned into a theater of the absurd
Josh Owen-Winn and his bride, Mercedes, who live in Liverpool, U.K., had come to New York to get married, arriving just four days ago. While they were exchanging their vows, Trump was in the courthouse across the street being arrested and arraigned.
Josh Owen-Winn described the whole experience as “surreal,” noting the crowds that had gathered. “It was stressful, traveling through the midst of it all,” he told MarketWatch.
But as Trump’s motorcade made its way to La Guardia airport, en route to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the newlyweds had their own challenge. As the throngs dispersed around Lower Manhattan and the circus atmosphere started to diminish, the Owen-Winns needed to find their taxi, and continue their big day.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
