Local law enforcement agencies prepare for possibility of protests after Trump indictment

(WFSB) - With the former president expected to be arraigned on several charges next week, law enforcement agencies are preparing for the possibility of protests.

While the focus will be in New York City, locally, the FBI told eyewitness news they couldn’t comment on any plans, saying it’s an issue of national security.

Channel 3 spoke with Ken Gray, a former special agent with the FBI who’s now a senior lecturer at the University of New Haven’s College of Criminal Justice.

He says this is an unusual situation in that no former or current president has ever been indicted and arraigned.

But that will happen next Tuesday, with former President Donald Trump set to face charges in New York City.

Gray says here locally, in a situation like this, law enforcement agencies in our state will typically share information, make plans to bring in additional support if needed, and monitor social media.

He says that would allow them to get in front and prepare for any type of potential protest.

“They are trying to get a feel for what is expected here and the local police will be surging their forces to be able to handle any type of protest, but I don’t expect to see any one center of protest in the state. You may see some at the Capitol, you may see some in a place like New Haven, usually, those crowds would be small, and something you would not need a large police presence to handle,” said Gray. “I expect to see not as many protestors for President Trump, simply because the chilling effect of what happened with the January 6th defendants, the fact that some are still in jail for that, means anybody that shows up to protest, runs the risk of falling into the same category.”

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