Fox News host says NYC could become a ‘zoo’ if Trump is arrested on Tuesday

A Fox News host has speculated that the possible arrest of Donald Trump on Tuesday could spark civil unrest and turn New York City into a “zoo.”

The comments came during host Neil Cavuto’s Saturday show, which featured UC Berkley professor John Yoo as a guest.

“I just wonder where this is going and what Tuesday looks like,” Cavuto told Yoo.

‘I can imagine that it will be like a zoo there. You’ll have a lot of people both supporting him, and those hoping he goes to clink. It can get very messy,” he said.

The fear of violence and confrontation in the city comes after Trump encouraged people to “protest” over his alleged arrest in Manhattan on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that the Manhattan DA had arranged to arrest him over payments he allegedly made to Stormy Daniels, with whom he is accused of having an affair.

Trump denies the affair and knowledge of the payments.

On Saturday, he posted on his social media platform to claim the investigation was “corrupt and highly political” and called the alleged hush money payment an “old and completely debunked fairy tale.”

“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” he stated on Saturday morning.

Yoo suggested that, unlike other US cities, downtown Manhattan lacks open spaces conducive to large gatherings and demonstrations.

‘I think it’s going to be a zoo. First of all, New York City, it’s not like Washington DC where you have these wide squares for public displays,” he said.

‘It can be very dangerous. The police and the secret service will have a very hard time controlling the crowd and making sure something like January 6 doesn’t happen,” Yoo said.

Yoo went on to say it would be in Trump’s interest that any demonstrations remain civilized and peaceful.

“In fact, it’s in President Trump’s interest to make sure the protests don’t get out of hand,” Yoo said.

“He wouldn’t want there to be violence, he wouldn’t want people to be harmed just because he was arrested,” he added.

If Trump’s claims of impending arrest are true, he would be the first former president ever to face criminal charges. His post came hours after it was alleged that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was planning to indict Trump next week.

A Trump spokesman said he is “justifiably emphasizing his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said, “Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical prosecutor who is running violent criminals as he pursues political revenge against President Trump.

“I am instructing relevant committees to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to undermine our democracy by disrupting elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

Last week, the former president and 2024 hopeful was invited to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan, with his longtime fixer and former attorney Michael Cohen testifying Monday.

Cohen was in jail after pleading guilty to two criminal charges, including the use of campaign finance related to Daniels and another woman who allegedly had an affair with Trump.

He said he had acted on his orders and that the payouts were intended to keep the affair stories out of public knowledge before the 2016 election. Trump has admitted that he paid back Cohen

Daniels met with prosecutors on Wednesday to answer further questions in the case and her attorney, Clark Brewster, said she would also make herself available as a witness in the future if needed.

Cohen has also indicated that he has provided the grand jury with damning testimony implicating Trump. He testified for three hours on Monday.

Beforehand, he said, “This is all about accountability. He must be held accountable for his dirty deeds.’

Speculation that indictments were imminent also increased when Bragg told Trump’s team that the former president could testify before the grand jury if he wanted to — a notice usually at the end of a trial that could mean an indictment. is near.

Legal experts have said Trump could face either of two charges over the payments, but also admit that both are difficult to prove.

He could be charged with falsifying company records if it is alleged that Trump knew his commission deal with Cohen was a sham to facilitate payments. That would be a felony under New York law unless prosecutors prove files were falsified to cover up another crime, which would make it a misdemeanor.

That other crime could be that the payments violated the state’s election law, because the intent of the alleged reward was to benefit his campaign.

Trump could face up to four years in prison for those charges.

But experts say the former president could still be reelected if charged or even convicted on the issue. Trump has already maintained that he “wouldn’t even think about leaving the race” if indicted.

The US Constitution does not say that a candidate cannot run if he has a criminal record. The prerequisites are simply that a candidate is a natural born citizen who is at least 35 years old and has lived in the US for 14 years or more.

Kate Shaw, a legal analyst and professor at the Cardozo School of Law, told me ABC“There is nothing in the Constitution that disqualifies individuals convicted of crimes from running for or serving as president.”

Any issues are likely to be practical rather than legal, Shaw said, such as jail time making campaigning “difficult, if not impossible.”