Dozens of furious Donald Trump supporters gathered around Mar-a-Lago on Monday to protest the FBI raid on the former president’s Florida home.
The demonstrators gathered in two groups, right outside Mar-a-Lago and by a bridge leading into Palm Beach, where the luxury resort is located.
Other Trump supporters drove around the area in vehicles decked out with patriotic regalia.
A video, posted from the scene by Jayne Zirkle, a reporter for Steve Bannon’s War Room, shows one truck with a large Trump/Pence banner attached, but with “Pence” crossed out, reflecting Trump supporters’ anger the former vice president didn’t refuse to certify the 2020 election result.
Pro-Trump protesters waved flags emblazed with slogans such as “Florida For Trump,” “Trump 2024” and “Biden Is Not My President.”
Another demonstrator held up a large placard with the slogan, “Fake News is CNN.”
The gathering was peaceful, though police did have to intervene after a counter-protester turned up with a sign branding Trump an “a**hole.”
In another tense moment, a man shouted a profanity about the former president, sparking abuse from his supporters in return.
The FBI raid is believed to be connected to an investigation into Trump’s handling of official papers.
When he left the White House, Trump took 15 boxes of documents with him, including material the National Archives later said was marked classified, prompting the Department of Justice to take action.
The former president reacted with fury to the raid which he claimed was “an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.”
In a statement he said: “These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by FBI agents.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.
“Such an assault could only take place in broke, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not before seen.”
Speaking to CNN, Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former press secretary, said the former president had not “handled classified documents properly.”
She said: “I watched him do it…I watched him go through documents, throw some away, rip some up and put some in his pocket.”
The raid sparked fury among Trump supporters, some of whom called for the FBI to be disbanded.
It was also condemned by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who tweeted: “The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.”
However, Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee chairman turned anti-Trump campaigner, defended the raid.
He tweeted: “Trump failed to return classified docs requested by the National Archives. A federal judge issued a search warrant for probable cause of a crime. This is not some rando move by the FBI.”
Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when the raid took place, and is reported to have been at Trump Tower in New York.
On Monday, CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp said Trump will lead the Republican Party “until he takes his dying breath.”
Donald Trump has been contacted for comment.
