A Trump indictment could kick off a long-term security nightmare

A grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump over the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels could set off an unprecedented security challenge for law enforcement, according to law enforcement and security analysts.

There are the practical logistics, of course, involving security around the courthouse if Trump makes an appearance — an event that could draw crowds of supporters and detractors. An indictment would spark long-term issues, like responding to possible threats against law enforcement and judicial officials, as has occurred in other cases involving Trump.

The security challenges came into sharp view on Friday, as the FBI and the New York Police Department investigated a death threat and white powder sent to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is leading the Trump hush money investigation. The DA’s office said that the substance was not determined to be dangerous, but, according to law enforcement sources, it accompanied a letter that read, “ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Police this week set up bike rack barricades — the same kind that a pro-Trump mob dispensed with in seconds on Jan. 6, 2021 — around the New York courthouse where a grand jury is deliberating and where the indictment could come down. Capitol Police, who were overwhelmed by the mob on Jan. 6, also said they are on the lookout for threats and told staffers that they may see an increased law enforcement presence, as NBC News previously reported.

NBC News reported last week that New York law enforcement officials had already begun preparing for a possible indictment and that security discussions included the NYPD, New York State Court Officers, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

During those meetings, officials have discussed possible routes of arrival for the former president should he be flown to New York to face any charges.

Multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News that there have been discussions about additional security measures for the judge assigned to the Trump case as well as the prosecutors involved. There have been several hundred threats to Bragg, the DA’s office and others in recent weeks, a senior New York law enforcement official said. A few dozen are considered directly threatening serious harm to Bragg.

Trump still has the ability to assemble large crowds at a given location. While Trump has called for supporters to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST,” he has not yet given his followers a time and place to assemble. Security officials worry that if he does, that could spell trouble, just as it did on Jan. 6.

Researchers who monitor the online spaces where far-right groups organize say that while efforts to coordinate a large protest have largely fallen flat so far, users are still calling for the assassination or capture of Democratic political figures.

“I want every traitor hanging from a rope when all this ends. EVERY TRAITOR. They can all die,” one person wrote in an online forum used by Trump supporters.

“Now it’s time we Americans need to go in guns blazing I’m willing to risk my life to show biden crimes are far worse. Civill war is now if he arrested,” a user wrote on Truth Social, the former president’s social media platform.

Daniel J. Jones, head of the nonpartisan, nonprofit online tracking firm Advance Democracy, said, “Trump’s calls to ‘protest’ in response to his reported impending arrest have led to threats of violence against government officials and law enforcement.”

Jones noted that users on the Trump-owned Truth Social and the pro-Trump forum TheDonald, where users shared travel plans and pictures of weapons ahead of the Jan. 6 riot, were posting threats of violence targeting Bragg.

Users on TheDonald threatened to “blow up” the DA’s office and “take out” Bragg. Others on Truth Social implored others to “take out [left-wing megadonor George] Soros” and “run [him] through a tree limb chipper,” urging one another to “go in guns blazing” and start a “civil war now if [Trump] is arrested.”

On Tuesday, a bomb threat was called into the New York State Supreme Court building ahead of proceedings in a separate case against Trump. The case, which is underway in lower Manhattan, is a $250 million lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump.