Security ‘Boosted’ As Judge And His Wife and Daughter Receive Flood Of Threats After Trump Arrest

BauerGriffin / MediaPunch /IPX

Security has been boosted after Judge Juan Merchan and his family received a flood of threats following ex-President Donald Trump’s arrest and appearance in court for arraignment on felony charges.

Trump traveled to New York Tuesday amid a circus environment for his arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom, during which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s 34-count indictment was unsealed and defendant Trump entered pleas of “not guilty” to crimes involving hush money payments to adult entertainment entrepreneur Stormy Daniels and others.

DA Bagg held a press conference following the court appearance, during which he defended his case from an onslaught of questions from reporters. Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago and delivered a speech that night in which he renewed his attacks on Judge Merchan and the judge’s wife and daughter, despite being warned in court.

Concurrently, threats against the judge, his family, and other court officers surged in the 24 hours following the arraignment. A new NBC News report — by Jonathan Dienst, Rebecca Shabad, Ben Kamisar, and Laura Jarrett — says that security had to be boosted as a result of the uptick in threats:

In the 24 hours since former President Donald Trump’s arraignment, the presiding judge and his family have received multiple threats, two sources familiar with the matter said.

One official said “dozens” of threats have recently been directed at Judge Juan Merchan and his chambers but did not give an exact time frame for them.

…

The New York police detail assigned to the DA’s office is providing extra security to all affected staff members. Court officers, meanwhile, are boosting security for the judge and the court as a whole as a precaution.

The DA’s office also removed staffers’ bios from the agency’s website due to threats, an action that Trump actually bragged about by sending a statement linking to an article that attributed the move to political calculations rather than threats.

“ICYMI: “BREAKING: Manhattan DA deletes ‘Meet Our Team’ page after staffers nuke their far-left Twitter accounts'” read the statement.