Chicago reacts to Trump's indictment
CHICAGO - Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago was quiet Thursday night amid the news that former President Donald Trump has been indicted.
Local experts said they don't anticipate protests in Chicago, but that could be a different story in New York City.
"There’s no precedent for a president or former president being indicted," said Karen Conti, legal expert. "It will play out in the courtroom."
A grand jury made up of 23 people has been meeting behind closed doors in Manhattan for months, but Conti said the legal process is only just beginning.
"My guess is that it will take a while to get to trial, and my guess is that it will be a year, year and a half," said Conti. "If you look at how Donald Trump has litigated things in the past, he moves things very slowly, he throws in all the wrenches that he possibly can."
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Conti said during a trial, the jury will be tasked with poring over countless documents, listening to hours of testimony, and will undoubtedly be in the spotlight.
"It’s not a slam dunk, basically they’re going to have to prove that Donald Trump knew that this money was going to be paid, he authorized it to be paid, and he authorized it to be done and put on the books in such a way that was false," said Conti.
Stephen Caliedno, a political science professor at North Central College, said he is concerned over the tensions that may arise in the political sphere over the coming days or weeks.
"The president has shown by his actions ton January 6th that he doesn't tend to de-escalate situations when his supporters are animated about something. The response he issued shortly after the news came out is illustrative of that," said Caliendo.
Trump is expected to turn himself in to authorities next week. Sometime after that, the former president will be arraigned.
"They did it to a governor, and they felt emboldened. It was a test case for them. And now they're doing it to an American president. And I love my country. It was some bad people in government that did it to me. And I cry for my country when I see what's happening now that they would do something like this to an American president," said former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.