Trump supporters and protesters agree – sort of – on his sentencing: ‘the opposite of justice’

Outside the lower Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump was sentenced on Friday in his hush-money case, groups of his supporters as well as anti-Trump protesters gathered in the below-freezing temperatures to express their views on the sentencing.

About 20 supporters stood on the right side of the courthouse entrance, displaying signs and banners that read “Stop Political Witch Hunts” and “Free Trump, Save America”. In contrast, around 15 anti-Trump protesters stood on the left side.

Barricades were set up between the two groups, and New York City police officers stood guard.

Qing Yang was among the Trump supporters, and held a corner of a large banner that read: “Stop partisan conspiracy.”

“My whole family are American citizens,” he said. “Donald Trump is my president. So many people made the choice. Trump is the winner.”

Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, formalizing his status as having been convicted of felonies but seeing no penalties apart from having the conviction on his legal record.

A pro-Trump demonstrator before Donald Trump’s sentencing in New York City, on Friday. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

He appeared at the sentencing via video from Florida. Before the sentence was delivered, he told the court that the case had been “a very terrible experience” and an “injustice”.

Yang’s feeling of Trump as “the winner” was a shared theme among his supporters outside the courthouse on Friday.

As the sentencing hearing took place inside, about a dozen Trump supporters moved to the small park across the street – Collect Pond Park – to unveil and hold up what one supporter claimed was “the largest Trump flag in the world”.

The giant flag, gently waving in the cold breeze, was held up by several supporters, and displayed bold letters that read: “TRUMP WON TRIFECTA.”

Across the street, the anti-Trump protesters held signs with messages reading: “Trump is Guilty,” “Fraud” and “34 Felony Convictions”.

Among the anti-Trump protesters was Paul Rabin, who carried a sign that read “Fraud”, accompanied by a photo of the president-elect.

Pro-Trump demonstrators help unfurl a large Trump flag outside court on Friday. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

Rabin said he took part on the very cold morning “because it just upsets me as a citizen that someone has lived their entire life with wealth, status and privilege and used it to evade justice.

“It’s been proven in a court of law that he’s broken the law, and yet he’s been able to evade justice, and unfortunately, in our society, he has money, wealth, status and power, and that’s what gets you justice, or the opposite of justice,” Rabin said.

The sentencing on Friday makes the conviction “official”, Rabin said, adding “once it’s official in New York state, then he’s not just charged, he’s actually convicted, and that actually does have some ramifications in terms of his liquor licenses, for his properties, things like that”.

The outcome of the sentencing on Friday was expected. Last week, the presiding judge, Juan Merchan, denied Trump’s bid to dismiss the case and wrote in that ruling that “a sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality”.

“Any little bit of justice is welcome because that’s what we need to cling to in the time of injustice,” Rabin said.

After the sentence was announced, the group of anti-Trump protesters dissipated. Meanwhile, a handful of Trump supporters remained in the park, waving flags and signs in support of the president-elect.

A supporter, John Ahern, 76, said he had flown up from Florida on Thursday night just to be outside the courthouse in Manhattan for the sentencing on Friday morning.

A pro-Trump demonstrator walks under a giant Trump flag outside court on Friday. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

Ahern, who was also present outside the courthouse for the former president’s trial and conviction last year, lives in New York; he had been in Florida this week and made a last-minute decision to fly back just for the sentencing.

“This is a travesty of justice,” Ahern said.

“I just wanted to be here. I think that this trial, more than any other single event leading up to the election, motivated American people to donate their money and volunteer, and donate their time and money to get Donald Trump elected.”

Ahern was holding a sign he’d made that read: “Enough was enough. We voted!!! Trump won!!!” He said he had spent all of Thursday at a Staples store in Florida printing banners.

“Ultimately, I’m enthusiastic about what’s going to happen, not just for America, but for the world,” he said of Trump’s second term. “We’ve got real leadership here again, and what we’ve had over the last four years has just been disastrous.”

In 10 days, Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States and will return to the White House. He is the first US president, former or sitting, to have faced a criminal trial, let alone a guilty verdict and a sentencing.

Victoria Bekiempis contributed reporting