On the eve of former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on federal charges, Miami’s mayor and police chief said Monday they are ready for the possibility for both peaceful protesters and agitators. 

“We obviously believe in the Constitution and believe that people should have the right to express themselves,” Mayor Francis Suarez said at a news conference. “But we also believe in law and order.”

According to Trump, he has been summoned to appear at Miami federal court at 3 p.m. Tuesday. He arrived in Miami on Tuesday ahead of the historic arraignment.

Trump faces 37 felony counts of retaining classified documents and obstructing investigators’ efforts to retrieve them, making him the first U.S. president ever to be indicted on federal charges. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said officials have been preparing for Tuesday since immediately after news broke of Trump’s indictment. 

“I can assure all our residents, our stakeholders and the visitors that are in the city at this time that we are working very closely with our federal, state and local partners to make sure that we have a comprehensive approach that is going to ensure that we maintain not only peace and order … but that everyone has the right to express themselves and the First Amendment rights.”

Officials said they are preparing for a range of scenarios — such as crowd sizes from 5,000 to 50,000 — and will make decisions early in the day based on the conditions. For instance, Suarez said road closures are not in their initial plans but that downtown residents should be prepared for that possibility. 

Officials will be using a “unified command approach,” meaning decision makers on strategy and resources will be in the same room, Morales said. He added that multiple agencies will work together on security outside the courthouse, including state, county and federal law enforcement. Morales said the Florida National Guard has not been contacted.

“Make no mistake about it,” Morales said. “We're taking this event extremely serious. We know that there is a potential of things taking a turn for the worse.”

The Miami Department of Fire-Rescue will also be at “an increased fire rescue level of preparedness, including EMS services,” the police chief said.

Morales was light on specifics for his police department’s strategy, including declining to discuss whether any physical barriers would be used near the courthouse.

Morales said there have been “a lot” of social media posts about potential violence, but he’s not aware of any that are considered credible.

Suarez said he’s confident Miami police are up to the challenge based on the way they handled the 2020 protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd.

“There were tens of thousands or thousands of people on our streets in Miami,” he said. “We were prepared. I think we were a model for how to deal with those protests in the country.” 

The Miami-Dade Police Department, which is responsible for unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County, told Spectrum News in a statement it has not received any federal requests for security support but that it is “prepared to provide any assistance, support, or resources requested by our partners at the City of Miami Police Department.”

The U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for security inside the courthouse and the safety of judges, prosecutors, defendants and others, said in a statement it takes that responsibility "very seriously."

"Ensuring that judges can rule independently and free from harm or intimidation is paramount to the rule of law, and a fundamental mission of the USMS," it said. "While we do not discuss our specific security measures, we continuously review the measures in place and take appropriate steps to ensure the integrity of the federal judicial process.”

In a radio interview with longtime ally Roger Stone on Sunday, Trump called for protests. The former president also posted on his Truth Social platform Friday, “SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!” The message evoked memories of his tweets urging his supporters to attend a Washington rally just before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

Stone, however, encouraged protesters to remain peaceful.

Meanwhile, far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has more than 400,000 followers on Twitter, has been promoting a “peaceful rally” in support of Trump outside the Miami federal courthouse.

But concerns about demonstrations turning violent persist. 

The Washington Post reported that a police advisory, citing a Telegram chat post, said the Miami chapter of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys might hold a rally Tuesday morning outside the courthouse. Some of the group’s leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6. 

And a number of Trump allies have made comments that some have interpreted as calls for violence.

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who said she will be in Miami on Tuesday to support the former president, told Georgia Republicans on Friday that if federal law enforcement and the news media “want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me and you’re going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me.  And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA [National Rifle Association]. That’s not a threat; that’s a public service announcement.”

Lake also said, “We’re at war, people.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., called Lake’s comments “dangerous,” adding they threaten “the very core of our democracy.”

And on Thursday night, shortly after news broke about Trump’s indictment, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., posted a cryptic tweet: “President Trump said he has ‘been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM.’ This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all.”

Jeff Sharlet, author of the book “The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War” tweeted that Higgins’ post was “deep scary” because it used military jargon. 

“This isn’t a slow civil war,” Sharlet wrote. “This is a congressman calling for the real thing.”

Higgins later issued a statement that did not elaborate on the tweet but accused the Justice Department and FBI of “corruption and targeted persecution” while adding, “we’re not willing to violate our Constitution.”

Note: This article was updated with the statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.