Dueling chants of ‘USA’ and ‘lock him up’ outside of courtroom as Trump arraignment starts

Protesters outside the Manhattan courtroom where former President Trump surrendered himself to authorities on Tuesday shouted dueling chants of “USA” and “lock him up,” as the proceedings carried on in the court.

The protestors gathered in a public square outside of the courtroom and shouted the chants as Trump became the first sitting or former president to be arrested and face criminal charges.

The former president entered the Manhattan courtroom through a side entrance on Tuesday amid a strong media and law enforcement presence.

Trump’s appearance on Tuesday drew calls for protests and demonstrations from the former president himself and his allies. There were also anti-Trump protesters gathered on Tuesday, with clashes between the two groups rising to peaceful dueling chants.

He entered the courtroom after stepping out of his motorcade and waving at the crowd assembled outside the building. Following the proceedings in New York, Trump is expected to return to Florida and deliver remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort at 8:15 p.m.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on his way down to the courthouse, saying it was “surreal” that he was going to be arrested.

“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!” Trump wrote.

All three major broadcasters — ABC, NBC and CBS — broke away from their regularly scheduled day time programming to provide live coverage of the Trump arraignment.

Tobias Burns contributed to this report