Everything you need to know about Trump’s Miami court appearance

MIAMI — When Donald Trump steps into a Miami federal courtroom on Tuesday, he’ll be making history as the first former president to face criminal charges in a wide-reaching case centered on his handling of classified material.

A Miami-based federal grand jury returned a 37-count criminal indictment that alleges the former president arranged for a huge collection of highly classified material to be moved to Mar-a-Lago — and thwarted the Justice Department’s attempts to retrieve them.

Dozens of media outlets descended on south Florida ahead of Trump’s court appearance and demonstrations — pushed by Trump and his allies — are planned for Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know about the historic event.

Where will it be and what time?

Trump is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge at 3 p.m. at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Courthouse in courtroom 13-3 in Miami. The case was randomly assigned to Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who ruled in Trump’s favor during an earlier phase of the documents case. But Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman is expected to oversee Trump’s Tuesday court appearance.

Who is allowed inside the courtroom?

Federal officials on Monday told members of the media and public to arrive Tuesday morning promptly at 8:30 a.m. to enter the building hours ahead of Trump’s arraignment. On Monday afternoon, journalists and others had already formed a makeshift line at the courthouse.

Only a few will be allowed to enter the actual room with space at a premium, but journalists will be allowed to gather in a nearby jury selection room, with around 350 seats, and where televisions will broadcast the hearing for those inside the courthouse. There is still no recording in the federal courtroom.

Who is expected to protest at the courthouse?

Trump supporters such as Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for governor in Arizona, and conservative activist Laura Loomer were among those who were urging people to come to downtown Miami and speak out. One Trump supporter put out information about busing people from central Florida to the Miami courthouse.

The Miami Herald reported that there was an online forum that suggested that members of the Proud Boys — an organization who had some of its former leaders participate in the Jan. 6 riots — were planning to hold a rally.

How are city officials and police responding?

Miami city officials said on Monday they are bracing for thousands of potential protesters descending on the city. Miami City Mayor Francis Suarez said they will support people expressing their opinions but maintained they will have “adequate forces” to respond if needed. City officials also said they had been coordinating with state, local and federal authorities though Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said they had not requested the help of the Florida National Guard.

“Make no mistake about it, we're taking this event extremely serious," Morales said. “…We're ready. Ready for it to be over and done."

City officials said they were anticipating a “disruption” but could not say on Monday afternoon if they would need to close off streets or cordon off dueling groups of protesters.

What is Trump accused of doing?

The former president is accused of mishandling a trove of classified material, including showing off classified documents to people without proper security clearances at his Bedminster, N.J. club.

He’s also accused of storing the documents at “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower [and] his bedroom” at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

What happens after the hearing?

Trump is scheduled to fly back to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. and is set to speak to the media at 8:15 p.m.