In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s historic conviction on 34 felony counts, the jury of “12 everyday New Yorkers” – as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described them – who found the former president guilty after a weeks-long case may no longer be safe,
Following the decision made Thursday night at the Lower Manhattan courthouse, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement that her government is working with the NYPD and federal law enforcement to “monitor the situation.”
“We are committed to protecting the safety of all New Yorkers and the integrity of our judicial system,” she said.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams stated that the New York City Police Department was prepared to make sure that the 12 jurors, as well as Bragg, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and court personnel, wouldn’t be in danger.
“Our criminal justice process must be respected,” the mayor announced in a statement. “As we await the next steps, New Yorkers should rest assured that the NYPD stands ready to respond to any and all circumstances, including large-scale protests. While peaceful protests and assembly will always be protected, we will not be a city of any form of lawlessness.”
Merchan and the state Office of Court Administration went above and beyond during Trump’s trial in Lower Manhattan to guarantee the jurors’ anonymity. The judge, overruling Trump’s legal team’s objections, explicitly forbade the release of the jurors’ names or addresses due to “a likelihood of bribery, jury tampering, or of physical injury or harassment of jurors.” However, their names are provided to trial lawyers, including Trump’s.
“Their protection, and this ruling, will demonstrate to the nation, and to the world, that we are indeed a nation governed by the rule of law,” said Democratic senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, chair of the state Senate’s judiciary committee.
Everyone should be “thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law, and their time and commitment over these last several weeks,” Bragg stated in his news conference after the 34-count unanimous judgment.
However, a request for comment about possible security measures for the judge and jurors was not immediately answered by the state Office of Court Administration.
