Dozens of protesters calling for the justice system to punish Donald J. Trump briefly blocked traffic Thursday morning on several streets near the Lower Manhattan courthouse where he is facing his first criminal trial.
The protest was small by New York standards, but still the largest and most organized that has been seen at Mr. Trump’s trial so far. Most days, only a handful of aggrieved citizens have arrived to protest in support of or against the former president, despite his calls for his supporters to turn out in great numbers.
The demonstrators held signs that read “No Immunity for Traitors,” “Slept with a Porn Star, Screwed the voters,” and “Election Interference is a Crime.”
Jamie Bauer, 65, a retired New York City Transit employee who lives in Manhattan, said she took to the streets because of the trial and a simultaneous hearing in the U.S. Supreme Court. In that hearing, the justices will consider Mr. Trump’s sweeping claims that he is immune from prosecution on charges that he tried to subvert the 2020 presidential election.
“Presidents are not kings,” Ms. Bauer said.
Kim Russell, 55, of Brooklyn, said demonstrators had planned for a month to be in Washington for the hearing on Thursday. Mr. Trump’s appearance at his criminal trial in New York forced them to improvise.
“We got to scramble, we got to be in both places,” Ms. Russell said.
She added that she was pleased with the turnout, and that Mr. Trump’s multiple cases were moving forward. “They can’t delay justice,” she said.
