Gov. Hochul said Friday that New York’s National Guard and state police are ready to assist the Big Apple if requested by Mayor Eric Adams to control any unrest resulting from the impending arraignment of former President Donald Trump.
“We offered to be supportive,” Hochul told reporters at the state Capitol in Albany. “Obviously, NYPD is the finest in the world. They know what they’re doing. They’ve trained for this. They’re able to handle crowds. This is not new to the NYPD.
“But I also want to offer our assistance in any way they want to take advantage of it – our state police, the Guard – whatever they ask for,” she added.
A Manhattan grand jury indicted the 76-year-old Trump Thursday over alleged fraud related to $130,000 in hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels – who alleges she had an affair with Trump that he has denied – ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has blasted the indictment as “political persecution and election interference at the high levels in history” led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“It is simply a statement that all of our laws apply to everyone,” Hochul told reporters Friday when asked about the indictment.
Trump, the 2024 frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president who now lives in Florida, is expected to return to his birth state early next week ahead of a Tuesday arraignment.
Earlier this month, the 45th president warned his followers he expected to be arrested in the hush money probe and urged them to “protest” when that happened.
That has led to concerns of civil unrest once Trump is arraigned, though Hochul expressed optimism Friday that the situation will be kept under control.
“What I read in the news is that there will be an appearance in court on Tuesday,” the governor said, “and I spoke with the mayor yesterday – the mayor of New York City – to offer any assistance that he would need at the time for or in advance preparation.”
