Miami officials stress 'law and order' in preparation for Trump's indictment hearing

June 12 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump arrived in Miami on Monday, a day before his first appearance in federal court to answer to a 37-count indictment alleging he willfully mishandled classified documents.

Trump, who is the first president in history to be indicted on federal criminal charges, arrived at Miami International Airport on Monday afternoon and was to spend the night at his golf resort Trump National Doral Miami. He is scheduled to appear for his arraignment at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

On Monday, Miami Mayor Frances Suarez and Police Chief Manny Morales held a press conference on preparations for the Tuesday hearing as officials anticipated potential violence as well as major traffic delays near the courthouse.

"We wanted to assure the public that we have already begun preparations for the event tomorrow," Suarez said. "We want to make sure everyone has the right to peacefully express themselves and exercise their constitutional rights. In our city, we believe in the Constitution and believe that people should have the right to express themselves, but we also believe in law and order."

Suarez and Morales did not refer to Trump's appearance in court by any other terms than an "event."

Suarez said there may be road closures downtown but that is not part of the initial plan. He advised that commuters still prepare for some disruption. Street closures will be dependent on the size of the crowd in the area of the courthouse.

The police are working with county, state and federal departments to prepare for Trump's arrival, according to Morales. He said law enforcement has prepared resources for a crowd from 5,000 to 50,000 people and he does not expect any issues.

"We know there is potential of things taking a turn for the worst but that's not the Miami way," he said. "We have extremely high confidence of the residents and the folks that live here in the city of Miami. They are used to demonstrating. They are used to exercising their First Amendment rights. They are incredibly respectful and supportive of law enforcement here in South Florida."

More officers have been placed on patrol as several pro-Trump rallies were planned throughout the city, including one outside the federal courthouse that was organized by a local chapter of the Proud Boys.

Suarez cited Miami's response to protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020 as an example of law enforcement's ability to maintain control of a large crowd. One member of the press noted that those protests were not organized by "extremists groups." Suarez did not acknowledge the comment but said police did not make an unnecessary number of arrests and were able to maintain control "without hurting anybody."

It will be difficult for officers to keep demonstrators for and against the former president separate, Morales said. He clarified that, as of Monday, there is no plan to designate specific areas for demonstration and demonstrators will be free to roam anywhere around the perimeter of the courthouse.

Earlier this month, Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Authorities were on full alert, monitoring threats of violence online and bracing for potential reprisals from far-right anti-government extremists.

As the arraignment quickly approaches, Trump is reportedly scrambling to find a new defense team. On Friday, defense attorneys Jim Trusty and John Rowley resigned from the case.

Evan Corcoran, an attorney hired by Trump when the Justice Department subpoenaed him for the classified documents, is expected to be a key witness in the case, The New York Times reports. Some of the evidence used to put the prosecution's case together reportedly came from Corcoran's notes. Special counsel Jack Smith acquired the notes through a crime-fraud exception that allows prosecutors to override attorney-client privilege under certain circumstances.

Trump is expected to be joined by attorney Todd Blanche on Tuesday. Blanche is also representing the former president in Manhattan, where he faces 34 felony counts related to falsifying records in multiple hush-money schemes.

Several Republican presidential candidates had steered clear of speaking about Trump's indictment, but that began to change on Monday. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the U.N. under Trump, said that if the allegations against him are true, he put all U.S. military members in danger.

"If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security," Haley said, Politico reports. "If that's the case, it's reckless, it's frustrating and it causes problems. You know, we're looking now, this is the second indictment. We're looking at a third indictment coming in with Georgia."

On the campaign stage in South Carolina, Sen. Tim Scott called the allegations against Trump "serious." Former Vice President Mike Pence has said that Trump tried to force him to choose between the Constitution and the former president.

In a statement on Twitter, Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, called for Trump to end his campaign, calling the upcoming trial a "major distraction."

On Tuesday, Trump's motorcade will enter the downtown courthouse through an underground tunnel, after which the former commander-in-chief will be processed and fingerprinted by federal marshals and the FBI.

It was not immediately clear if Trump would be handcuffed or photographed for a police mugshot, which is the typical protocol for any person under arrest.

After intake, Trump will appear before a U.S. district magistrate, who will read the formal charges against him.

The former president will then enter a plea and be released.

After the hearing, Trump has said he will fly back to New Jersey, where he plans to hold a campaign fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club at 8:15 p.m. EDT.

Last week, Trump said he intended to plead not guilty, maintaining that he is "totally innocent" of any wrongdoing and vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race.

"We did absolutely nothing wrong," Trump told his supporters during a campaign stop over the weekend. "Take a look at the Presidential Records Act. We did it by the book. Perfect."

Last August, more than 100 top secret papers were seized during a search of his Palm Beach, Fla., resort.

The indictment against Trump is the culmination of a nearly seven-month Justice Department investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November.

Trump has said previously that he had the authority to "automatically" declassify the documents.

Evidence from the special counsel investigation was presented to a federal grand jury in Florida instead of in Washington, where a separate grand jury had been seated to also hear the case.

Classified documents also turned up last year at President Joe Biden's former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington and later at his home in Wilmington, Del., after which Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate.

In January, classified documents were also found at the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence, followed by an FBI search in February, which turned up another top-secret paper.

In early June, the Justice Department concluded its investigation into the Pence documents with no charges; while the investigation into the Biden documents remains ongoing.

Trump, meanwhile, is facing a separate indictment in New York on state charges of falsifying business records in relation to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump allegedly had a sexual encounter that threatened to upend his 2016 campaign.

Trump has continued to describe the cases as liberal witch hunts, but William Barr, who served as Trump's attorney general, told Fox News on Sunday that Trump was "not a victim here," adding that the evidence in the classified documents case showed the former president had engaged in "egregious obstruction."

"If even half of it is true, he is toast," Barr said, referring to the indictment. "It's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning."