“Just here to support Donald”: Court employee arrested after trying to “assist” Trump at trial

A spectator at former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York was arrested Wednesday after rising from her seat in the middle of testimony and approaching the front of the courtroom where he was, The Associated Press reports. The woman declared a desire to “assist” Trump, and the court system said that neither he nor anyone else at the trial was ever in danger. The former president did not display a reaction in court and told reporters later he did not know about the incident that had transpired behind him. “Who got arrested?” Trump asked. “We didn’t know anything about it.”

The woman, who was later identified as a court system employee, returned to her seat after a court officer instructed her to do so. Shortly afterward, officers removed her from the room and arrested her on a contempt charge for disrupting the proceeding, court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said. Chalfen explained that the woman had been calling out to Trump that she wanted to help him, though reporters present in the courtroom did not hear her raise her voice. She was later heard screaming in the lobby as officers escorted her out of the building. 

“You’re scaring me, and I have a right to be here,” an NBC camera caught the woman telling court officers outside the courtroom. “I’m an American citizen, and I’m also a court employee. I’m also just here to support Donald Trump.” She added that she had been “peacefully watching this proceeding” and complied when a court officer advised her against causing “any more problems.” Chalfen said the woman, whose name was not released to the public, has since been put on administrative leave and prohibited from entering state courts while authorities investigate.