There was a stunned silence in the park across the courtroom where a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The news quickly swept through the large crowd of around 70 which had gathered since Thursday morning and Trump supporters were overcome with emotion.
One man was crying hysterically, others were red with rage and a few were unusually silent following the verdict.
Richie Frank, been a Trump supporter for 30 years, said the verdict was ‘an eight year set up’.
Donald Trump supporters look dejected outside the Manhattan courthouse as they hear the former president was found guilty
Former President Donald Trump walks to make comments to members of the media after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records
‘The verdict is fake. Everyone was indemnified him. It’s a deep state it’s another country running this country,’ he told DailyMail.com
‘He shouldn’t be locked up but if he is, Eric Trump for president.’
‘Blackmail talks and that’s what gets this guilty verdict. No one knows what he is guilty of.’
Meanwhile, others cheered and celebrated the news with one man screaming ‘Guilty’ and unveiling a banner with the same statement.
One Trump supporter and an anti-Trump protester got into a heated argument following the verdict.
Protester John Michael Lockhart told him: ‘I am on the right side of justice.
‘He is guilty of fraud. I am thrilled with the verdict. I came in from Louisiana for this, I have been waiting for this for eight years,’ he said.
‘I was running a newspaper for 25 years and I shut it down during his term of office because I was printing the truth and the people of Louisiana couldn’t handle it.
‘I don’t put up with racists or bigots.’
Trump supporters react as verdict was announced in the criminal trial of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Trump supporters check their phones for information about the case as the verdict is announced
While the Trump supporter, who did not want to be named, said: ‘They hate Trump it’s our own people, our own people are gaslighting New Yorkers.
‘This man is innocent. You don’t get a fair trial in New York. I am a native new Yorker that’s a dirty court.’
The former president was found guilty on all 34 felony counts after a very brief deliberation and will be sentenced on July 11.
It comes after five weeks of dramatic evidence and 22 witnesses being quizzed on the stand.
The case is the first time a former U.S. President has faced a criminal trial.
Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and is set to take on Joe Biden in November’s election.
It means the verdict could upend the 2024 White House race and prove a pivotal moment in the history of the United States.
Prosecutors had a high bar to reach in order to convince the 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters.
A couple kisses in celebration while others celebrate in the background after finding out Trump has been found guilty
A woman holds up a banner celebrating Trump’s conviction outside the courthouse
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s wrapped up all the evidence and witness testimony they claimed was sufficient enough to nail Trump on 34 felony counts of ‘falsifying business records.’
Trump’s team tried to lay out a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels.
They also reiterated several of their strongest points, that hush money payments are not illegal and Trump solely wanted to spare his family humiliation from Stormy’s alleged affair claims.
The case is the first time a former US President has faced a criminal trial.
Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and is set to take on Joe Biden in November’s election.
It means the verdict could upend the 2024 White House race and prove a pivotal moment in the history of the United States.
The charges Trump faces each carry a maximum potential sentence of up to four years in prison.
Prosecutors told of a plot by Trump to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election by hiding a $130,000 hush money payment by his ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels alleged that she and Trump had sex a decade earlier, which he has denied.