Crowds are thin outside the Manhattan criminal court where President Trump is on trial, and demonstrations were muted on Friday, despite Mr. Trump calling on his supporters to take to the streets of New York City and protest outside the courthouse. 

“GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST,” Mr. Trump urged on his Truth Social platform earlier this week. “RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY.”

He added: “Free Speech and Assembly has been ‘CHILLED’ for USA SUPPORTERS.”

The GOP presidential front-runner contended that the relative scarcity of supporters rallying outside the courthouse reflected restrictions imposed by local authorities that barred his backers from making their way to the courthouse. 

He wrote on Truth Social that “people who truly LOVE our Country and want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, are not allowed to ‘Peacefully Protest,’ and are rudely and systematically shut down and ushered off to far away ‘holding areas,’ essentially denying their Constitutional Rights.” 

On Friday morning the block immediately surrounding the Manhattan criminal court had heavy police presence. On either end of the block around the courthouse there were crowds gathered, though they were mostly people who work at the courthouse or with other business at the court.

Those without credentials were not allowed to stand on the same side of the street as the criminal court, though there was space for observers at Collect Pond Park directly adjacent to the courthouse.

At about 8:30 a.m. stragglers began filtering into the area, though most didn’t stay for long. The actual bystanders and protesters were far outnumbered by police officers and members of the press setting up for TV broadcasts.

Shortly before Mr. Trump was expected in court at 9:30 a.m., the man who would become the center of the pro-Trump group on Friday, Dion Cini, appeared with a bag and began to unfold pro-Trump merchandise including a sizable flag reading “Trump or Death.”

Mr. Cini, 55, tells the Sun that he was at the courthouse to “rally” this day because Mr. Trump was “the greatest president we ever had.”

“I’m out here to celebrate that Trump’s going to get another 5 percent to 8 percent boost in the polls because of this trial,” he said. 

Mr. Cini says he has been to “every indictment” of the former president to show his support and has spoken to Mr. Trump three times. He says the former president thanked him for his backing.

“Every time they try to hurt Trump they hurt themselves,” Mr. Cini said. “I wish they put Trump in jail because if they put Trump in jail, then it’s game on.”

During the Sun’s interview with Mr. Cini, a bystander looking at the large “Trump or Death” flag interrupted, asking, “Where are the thousands of supporters?” To which a supporter of Mr. Trump responded sarcastically, “They’re at your mom’s house.”

Mr. Cini also set up a small stand for pro-Trump hats as he mingled with the handful of supporters of the former president at Collect Pond Park.

One of the other pro-Trump demonstrators at the park, a 56-year-old dog walker who identified himself as Joe, tells the Sun that he was there because he “just wanted to support president Trump and his journey and his wrongful charges.”

Joe also says he thinks that the cases against Mr. Trump are helping his political fortunes, and that “more and more people have come over to our side.” 

This was the first time Joe had come out to the courthouse, he said, though he had been to other pro-Trump events. He said he wasn’t disappointed by the small crowd, saying, “We protest but we don’t protest like the savages on the left.”

“And, if you’re going to go to the J6 thing that was Antifa doing that, MAGA people don’t do that,” Joe said.

A couple of the pro-Trump demonstrators also laid down for photos on the spot where the man who set himself on fire at Collect Pond Park collapsed last week, calling it the “gas bucket challenge.”

Similar numbers of anti-Trump and pro-Trump demonstrators, fewer than 10, appeared at the park over the course of the morning.

Richard Bencivengo, who had flown in from Mexico, where he lives as a retiree, to vacation at New York, said he had stopped by the courthouse hoping to see a spectacle. “We’re progressive Democrats and we thought we’d see what this spectacle looks like,” Mr. Bencivengo says. A woman who was with him, Wendy, added, “To see all the thousands of protestors.”

Mr. Bencivengo said he thinks Mr. Trump is “losing support day after day after day,” but doesn’t see the case against him as part of the campaign, adding, “I don’t think the case is part of him losing support — I think he committed crimes.”

“There’s a difference between what Trump is quoted as saying is happening down here and what’s actually going on,” Mr. Bencivengo said in reference to the crowd and the alleged barriers to observers. “It’s really clear to me that his reality is different than reality.”

He added: “I lived in New York in the ’80s when Trump was considered a joke.”

There were a handful of other pro-Trump demonstrators who declined to be interviewed by the Sun. A couple of verbal spats between them and attendees opposed to Mr. Trump also broke out, as did other political discussions. 

Outnumbering either the pro-Trump or anti-Trump crowds were tourists from the United Kingdom, who seemed to find the demonstrations underwhelming.

One group of visitors from across the pond drew a comparison between the 2024 American election and the coming British elections, saying, “People don’t want either option.”

Another visitor from the U.K., Steven George France, a 46-year-old business owner, said that he was paying attention to the immunity case before the Supreme Court.

“With us being from the U.K. and with King Charles — it’s his court system — we’ve never ever had a head of state taken to court,” Mr. France said. “It’s interesting to see in the coming months whether you’se are going to follow suit on the question of immunity with Donald Trump being able to have presidential immunity so he can never ever be taken to court.”

He added: “It’s a very interesting point because we’re going to find out whether America is truly a democratic society and if justice is equal for all men and women.”