Photo: Bloomberg
Former President Donald Trump surrendered to federal authorities in Florida on Tuesday (June 13) after being charged in a 37-count indictment related this his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Trump entered the court through a basement entrance and was booked and processed by U.S. Marshals.
Trump was then led to the courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of false statements and representations, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation and one count of engaging in a scheme to conceal.
Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman barred Trump from discussing the case with witnesses in the case.
While Trump was being processed, supporters and opponents of the former president gathered outside the courthouse to protest. The protests were mostly peaceful, though there was a brief scare after a "suspicious" package was found near the courthouse. It was quickly determined to be a television, and the all-clear was given.
"We're just kind of monitoring the traffic, and we're getting in the crowd, and we're looking for individuals that might be trying to agitate other parties, and we're just keeping them separate," Miami Police Chief Manny Morales told CNN. "Our bicycle response team has done a phenomenal job kind of keeping the folks at bay."
"Everybody has been behaving as we expected," he added. "We just want everybody to kind of peacefully demonstrate their first amendment rights, and we'll make sure everybody gets home safe."
This is the first time a former president has been indicted on federal charges. Trump was previously indicted in New York on state charges of business fraud related to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
After his arraignment, Trump stopped at Versailles, a popular Cuban cafe, and met with some of his supporters. They prayed over him and then sang Happy Birthday. Trump will turn 77 tomorrow.