The army said it will not be distracted from the war after the attack
Policing the "city that never sleeps" is no easy task even on a typical day -- so New York law enforcement agencies are taking no chances ahead of Donald Trump's high-profile court appearance next week, bracing for protests for and against the first indictment ever of a former US president.
The city's police department has ordered its 36,000 officers to be in uniform and ready to deploy next week, NBC News reported Friday, citing official sources.
Asked by AFP about their posture ahead of Trump's arraignment, a New York Police Department (NYPD) spokesperson said Friday that "officers have been placed on alert," and stand ready to "ensure everyone is able to peacefully exercise their rights."
Trump, 76, is to be booked and fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday afternoon before appearing before a judge.
While the specific charges remain under seal, the case brought by New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg is widely believed to revolve around a $130,000 hush money payment Trump gave a porn star ahead of his successful 2016 election.
Protests on both sides of the issue -- which the president and his supporters have decried as "political persecution" -- are expected to grow in the city, raising fears of unrest.
Trump supporters, including Republican member of Congress Marjorie Taylor Greene, have announced plans to protest outside the courtroom during his appearance.
For now, the NYPD spokesperson said, there are "no current credible threats to New York City."
Outside Trump's eponymous skyscraper on Fifth Avenue, a dozen or so people had already taken position on Friday with signs and banners that said, "Arrest Trump" and "Tick Tock, Times Up!"
Another sign read, "No one is above the law."
A man in a Trump costume made an appearance, and took pictures with a couple of the former president's supporters, who carried a banner supporting his 2024 campaign.
Outside the district attorney's heavily guarded office, Susan, a 60-year-old lawyer who declined to give her last name, had no qualms about saying she supports policies that Trump espouses, although "I don't like his personality."
The expected charges against Trump are overblown, at best "a misdemeanor, not a felony," she said.
"This is ridiculous -- politically motivated. I am ashamed of this justice in America that looks like that of other countries with politicized judicial systems," she said.
Earlier in the day, three friends from San Sebastian in Spain's Basque country passed by to take in the scene before heading to a tour of Chinatown.
"It seems strange to us," 72-year-old Pilar Banos told AFP. "The fact that they will put him in the car with his head bowed gives him prominence and votes because it will seem like an injustice to many people."
Trump has called the investigation a "witch hunt" and denied having any relationship with the porn star known as Stormy Daniels.
The next chapter in his legal travails will come Tuesday, when the court reveals the actual charges pending against him.
The army said it will not be distracted from the war after the attack
Prices of petrol and high-speed diesel to be pushed up by about PKR 2.50 and PKR 8.50 per litre
Tension in the Middle East has further bolstered gold
Upon arrival, Scholz condemned the Iranian strikes on Israel
Police have named the assailant as 40-year-old itinerant man Joel Cauchi
Family expresses condolences to the victims
The airline has already suspended flights to and from Tehran until April 18
All flights at Egyptian airports are according to the usual schedules, except for some flights heading to countries that have closed their airspace, said the govt