Fort Pierce - Wednesday June 21, 2023: Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson says her city is ready to handle the national exposure it'll get throughout the trial of former president Trump, and she hopes it’ll bring some positive benefits to the city as well.
Despite the fact that Judge Aileen Cannon was assigned the Trump case and she presides over the Fort Pierce Federal Court, a lot of people were surprised at the decision to hold the trial in the Sunrise city, Mayor Hudson among them. “Yes, in truth, it did catch me by surprise. But then I learned that the Judge lives in Vero and chose this courthouse.”
It’s a relatively new Federal Courthouse, and the Mayor suspects there may be some security and location benefits that made it a better choice than Miami. “Perhaps there were features of that Courthouse and it doesn’t have a lot of occupants, and maybe the lack of the kind of traffic you have in south Florida, and we have a lot of transportation opportunities, I-95, the Turnpike, the Port. Whoever made those decisions might have taken all that into consideration.”
The process to coordinate security amongst Federal and local agencies she said has already begun. "The preliminary email from St. Lucie County said that they are expecting to hear from the Federal Protection Service, and they will be the lead agency, and they will be in touch with the head of public safety for St. Lucie County. Of course, the City of Fort Pierce Police Department will be contacted and I have no doubt that they can handle it.”
Overall, the Mayor hopes the impact of the coming trial will be positive for Fort Pierce. “I know that the action will be centered around the courthouse, but we have a beautiful city and I’m hoping that the waterfront and the beaches and our beautiful clean water is going to be a positive. And we’re being discovered.”