Trump supporters float ‘Patriot Moat’ around Mar-a-Lago to protect ex-president as charges loom

Donald Trump supporters have called for a so-called “patriot moat” to surround the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate to prevent him from being arrested as well as protests to shut down New York City.

Mr Trump could make history this week if he is indicted over alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.

The former president made the arrest prediction in a furious all-caps post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday morning and called on his supporters to protest any arrest and to “take our nation back.”

And on far-right wing forums, his supporters were quick to make suggestions about how they could back Mr Trump and stop authorities from taking the Republican politician into custody.

“Surround Mar-A-Lago or wherever he currently is and prevent ‘law enforcement’ from entering,” wrote one person on the patriots.win website.

“Protest AROUND him, BEFORE the arrest. FFS people, this ain’t rocket science,” wrote another person on a thread entitled “Trump to be arrested on Tuesday. Our government is lost.”

And another added: “Pick a blue city, take a Trump train like the 75 mile long one in FL, park on the freeways and shut it down. It would be easy to do this to NY- just block the bridges and tunnels. They don’t have enough cops left to do anything.”

While a spokesperson for Mr Trump says they have not been officially notified by prosecutors of any impending charges, it has been reported that meetings have taken place between city, state and federal law enforcement in New York City about his any indictment should be handled. It appears Mr Trump was responding to news reports and not any informed speculation about a potential arrest. The Manhattan grand jury investigating Mr Trump is set to hear from an additional witness on Monday, which could delay a final decision on any charges.

Mr Trump similarly incited his supporters ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot, when the former president called on his backers to “Be there, will be wild!” His supporters did just that, and some appear to have a similar sentiment today.

“We need to organize and take over wherever they try to hold him. Make them surrender,” one person added on the forum.

“A million strong MAGA army surrounding President Trump. Then you’d see if these 100% politically motivated charges can be realized,” said another.

“Nation Wide Strike. ALL PATRIOTS stop what you are doing and bring society to a halt,” wrote another user.

And another added: “A circle of riflemen within a one mile radius of his current location, a smaller circle always in the same room as him…”

But one user warned the other people on the forum about the legality of some of the threats being made.

“lmao good idea, let’s plan crimes on this publicly accessible website,” they wrote.