Cheers, Kisses, and Wild Celebrations Erupt Outside Courthouse as Trump Is Convicted

Shouts of “Fuck Donald Trump” and “Let’s Go” were heard outside the Manhattan courthouse where the former president was found guilty on 34 felony counts on Thursday afternoon, part of a jubilant scene as New Yorkers and trial tourists celebrated the first criminal conviction of a former president in U.S. history.

Loud cheers could be heard on cable television as word quickly spread that the jurors, a panel of five women and seven men, all New Yorkers, had read their guilty verdicts in front of Trump and Judge Juan Merchan.

A handful of Trump supporters donning red MAGA caps were left scratching their heads outside the courthouse, videos recorded by The Daily Beast showed. Others shouted and chanted while TV news reporters attempted to deliver information live from the scene, where one Trump superfan was recorded screaming in agony, “Take me instead.”

Clips recorded by the independent journalist Katie Smith showed an enraged MAGA supporter shouting and flicking off those celebrating.

“Motherfuckers, motherfuckers,” he yelled. “You suck, you suck, there is no justice in this country... Not guilty, he’s not guilty, pieces of shit. Eat shit and die you fucking corrupt motherfuckers.”

Another man, acting equally deranged, bizarrely yelled, “Your fucking kids are all dead. All your fucking children they’re all fucking dead.”

It was a chaotic scene outside the courthouse throughout Thursday, with one pro-Trump activist, Juliet Germanotta, flashing her breasts before getting into a fight with a counter-protester over their sign, the New York Post reported.

For those happy with the verdict, the area outside the courthouse became a party scene. Photos from the area showed some people kissing, while others held up “guilty” signs and chanted in celebration.

Nadine Seiler, who carried a sign that read “Trump the felon” on one side and “Don the felon” on the other, broke into laughter and chants when the verdict came down.

Seiler, 59, told The Daily Beast she drove to the courthouse from her home in Maryland once a week to protest Trump during the trial, and slept outside the courthouse the night before the verdict was read.

“Now I can go home and get some rest, and go back to my life,” she said with a smile.

She added that she hoped the decision would influence voters who weren't yet paying attention to the race to vote for Joe Biden. “Once they start paying attention and realize Don the con is now Don the felon, most of them are not going to vote for him,” she said.

Across a metal barricade erected by police to divide two sides, a Trump supporter named Kim Savvagh had a very different take on the verdict.

“This is a slam dunk win for him,” she said. “I’m not looking at this as bad. I think it’s better than not guilty.”

She explained that she thought the guilty verdict would “expose more corruption.”

“Even my 91 year old mother—and she doesn't talk politics—goes, ‘They’re doing this to get Trump,’” she added.

Still, for many near the courthouse, in the heart of lower Manhattan, life appeared to go on without much of a blip.

Some New Yorkers passed the scene on their way home from work, unbothered by what was unfolding around them. Several stopped for a few moments, apparently taking in the historic moment.

Two tourists from Wisconsin told The Daily Beast they were sightseeing in Chinatown when they saw helicopters circling and realized the verdict must be imminent.

“We were like, ‘Are there always this many police on the streets?’" said one of them, Christine Tanzer, adding: “It feels a little unreal that we're here in this time in history.”