Dozens of Donald Trump supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago home after the FBI raid on his club and house yesterday.
Trump announced yesterday that FBI agents had broken into a safe in his home in an “unannounced raid.”
The FBI was reportedly looking for missing classified documents that Trump allegedly removed from the White House at the end of his term, records that were supposed to be turned over to the National Archives.
Supporters and pro-Trump politicians showed their anger over the FBI search, which they feel was politically motivated.
Rowdy, furious supporters arrived in cars and held pro-Trump signs in front of his home, including one for a 2024 campaign for president.
Trump has not formally announced his bid for the presidency in 2024, but there is speculation he is likely to run again.
Signs were seen with slogans, including ‘Make Votes Count Again’ or ‘Keep America Great’ and ‘In Trump I Trust.’
One of the assembled identified himself as one of the Proud Boys, a far-right activist group that participated in the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Many of the protesters held signs and wore tee shirts condemning President Joe Biden.
There was a large police presence at the scene. FBI agents and Secret Agents were also there.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump wrote. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
High-ranking Republicans expressed their disgust about the FBI raid. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who may end up being a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said on Twitter that it was “an escalation in the weaponization” of US government agencies.” He compared the US to a “banana republic.”
The House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, well known for his zig-zag support of the former president, said on Twitter that the Department of Justice “has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” He warned Attorney General Merrick Garland that if the Republicans win the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections, they will investigate the Department of Justice.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted, ‘Using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships but never before in America.”
Justice Department spokesperson Dena Iverson had no comment on the search, and did not confirm whether Attorney General Garland had personally approved it.
Perhaps a coincidence, the date of the raid was the anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon, as he faced impeachment over his involvement in a break-in of the Democratic Party’s headquarters, famously known as Watergate.