Trump Rallying Supporters in Waco      03/25 09:36

   

   WACO, Texas (AP) -- Staring down a possible indictment, a defiant Donald 
Trump is hoping to put on a show of force Saturday as he holds the first rally 
of his 2024 presidential campaign in a city made famous by deadly resistance 
against law enforcement.

   The former president will gather with supporters at an airport in Waco, 
which will mark the 30th anniversary of the Waco massacre next month. In 1993, 
an attempted raid by law enforcement of a compound belonging to the Branch 
Davidians, a religious cult, resulted in a shootout that led to a 51-day siege, 
ending in a blaze that left dozens dead.

   The rally comes as Trump has berated prosecutors, encouraged protests and 
raised the prospect of possible violence should he become the first former 
president in U.S. history to face criminal charges. Some of his recent rhetoric 
has echoed language he used before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. 
Capitol by a mob of his supporters seeking to stop the transfer of power.

   "What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former 
President of the United States ... and leading candidate (by far!) for the 
Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO 
Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in 
such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?" Trump wrote on his 
social media site early Friday.

   Trump's campaign insisted the location and timing of the event had nothing 
to do with the Waco siege or anniversary. Instead, a spokesperson said the site 
was chosen because it was conveniently situated near four of the state's 
biggest metropolitan areas -- Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San 
Antonio -- and has the infrastructure to handle a sizable crowd.

   "This is the ideal location to have as many supporters from across the state 
and in neighboring states attend this historic rally," said Trump spokesperson 
Steven Cheung.

   The city is part of McLennan County, which Trump won in 2020 by more than 23 
points. The airport where the rally is being held is 17 miles from the Branch 
Davidian compound.

   The rally had already been in the works before it became clear that a grand 
jury in New York was drawing closer to a possible indictment as it investigates 
hush money payments made to women who alleged sexual encounters with Trump 
during the height of his 2016 campaign. Trump has denied the women's claims.

   But the timing will give Trump an opportunity to demonstrate his continued 
popularity with the GOP base and to portray himself as the victim of a 
politically motivated "witch hunt" as he campaigns for a second term in the 
White House.

   The grand jury investigating the hush money payment is expected to meet 
again Monday in New York.

   Trump has spent weeks now railing against the investigation. In a move that 
seemed designed to preempt a formal announcement and to galvanize his loyal 
base, he claimed last Saturday that he would be arrested the following Tuesday. 
While that did not happen, Trump has used the days since to try to shape public 
perception, claiming, for instance, that the Manhattan district attorney's 
office had plunged into "Total disarray," though there was no evidence to 
suggest prosecutors were backing away from the case.

   His efforts echoed a strategy the former president has used before, 
including during special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

   Trump has also launched a series of increasingly personal attacks against 
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, calling him "a danger to our Country" 
who "should be removed immediately," and using increasingly racist and 
dehumanizing rhetoric.

   On Thursday, he sought to tie Bragg, Manhattan's first Black district 
attorney, to George Soros, a liberal billionaire donor who doesn't know Bragg 
and hasn't donated directly to him. "A SOROS BACKED ANIMAL," Trump wrote of 
Bragg, adding, "THIS IS NO LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO." He also shared 
an article that juxtaposed a picture of Bragg with a photo of Trump swinging a 
baseball bat in Bragg's direction.

   The former president has also repeatedly involved violence. Last Saturday, 
he called on his supporters to "PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!" And on 
Thursday, he bemoaned, "OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE 
PEACEFUL!"

   On Friday, a powdery substance was found with a threatening letter in a 
mailroom at Bragg's offices, authorities said. Officials later determined the 
substance wasn't dangerous.

   Bragg's office sent an internal email to staff last Saturday saying, "We do 
not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in 
New York." After the powder was discovered, Bragg sent another email to 
staffers telling them their safety was the top priority.

   "We will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, which is what each of 
you does every single day," he wrote Friday.

   Even before the threatening letter was sent to Bragg's office, Democrats 
warned that Trump's remarks had the potential to incite violence.

   "The twice-impeached former president's rhetoric is reckless, reprehensible 
and irresponsible. It's dangerous, and if he keeps it up he's going to get 
someone killed," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier Friday.

   The Manhattan case focuses on a $130,000 payment that Trump's longtime 
lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels as Trump was 
in the throes of the 2016 campaign. Trump later reimbursed Cohen and his 
company logged the reimbursements as a legal expense. Cohen has already served 
time in prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to 
Congress, among other crimes.

   Trump is also facing an investigation in Georgia over his efforts to 
overturn the results of the 2020 election as well as federal probes into his 
handling of classified documents and possible obstruction, as well as his 
efforts on Jan. 6.