DA Alvin Bragg urges extended gag order on Trump

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has petitioned a judge to extend the gag order against Donald Trump, citing a surge in death threats and harassment following Trump’s felony conviction.

The chilling details reveal the extent of the backlash Bragg has faced, marked by a torrent of racist abuse and violent threats.

Since the conviction, Bragg’s office has been bombarded with over 100 threatening emails sent to his campaign website. Many of these messages have been shockingly racist, with Trump supporters resorting to vile epithets such as the N-word, “gorilla,” and “primate.”

One particularly disturbing incident involved Bragg receiving a package containing a photo of himself, a noose, and a menacing caption that read, “I am past the point of just wanting them in prison.”

The New York Police Department has documented an alarming 55 “actionable threats” against Bragg, his staff, and his family since the beginning of April. These threats underscore the urgent need for the gag order to remain in place, aiming to curb Trump’s incendiary rhetoric that could further incite his followers.

The current gag order prevents Trump from targeting witnesses, court staff, jurors, and the family of Judge Juan Merchan. Bragg hopes that maintaining these restrictions will mitigate the risk of further harassment and violence.

In their court filing, Bragg’s prosecutors emphasized the necessity of the gag order, pointing to Trump’s “singular history of inflammatory and threatening public statements” and his supporters’ relentless attempts to “identify jurors and threaten violence against him.”

The filing underscores the ongoing danger, noting, “Since the verdict in this case, defendant has not exempted the jurors from his alarming rhetoric that he would have ‘every right’ to seek retribution as president against the participants in this trial as a consequence of his conviction because ’sometimes revenge can be justified.”