Residents throughout the Las Vegas Valley were showing mixed reaction to the news that former President Donald Trump had been convicted on 34 counts by a New York jury in his so-called hush money trial, with some calling it a witch hunt and others saying Trump should be put behind bars.
North Las Vegas resident Alfred Von Altheimer Jr., 93, said he was “elated” by the verdict and called Trump a fraud and a liar.
“He’s not a nice person,” he said outside of Doolittle Community Center on Thursday. “Hopefully the country will get back on its feet and gets democracy where it should be. … I hope it brings some sanity back to the Republican Party, which I used to be a member of.”
Altheimer said Democrats are not much better, but he thinks Biden is a better option. He hopes Trump “takes a seat.”
“He needs to sit down and stop trying to be president,” he said.
Glenn Nor, a Las Vegas resident, said he was shocked to hear the news of the verdict.
The 59-year-old voted for Trump twice and will vote for him in November. He said the country was better under Trump, and he criticized Biden for his lack of action on the border.
“It’s just a witch hunt driven by Biden,” said Nor, who wore a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat and a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ T-shirt. “That’s all it is. They were going to try to keep him out of the election.”
Another resident said she hopes Trump serves jail time.
“He shouldn’t be above the law,” North Las Vegas resident Delores Armstrong said at the Doolittle Community Center. “He shouldn’t be able to do what he does. If it was one of us, we would be in jail locked up. All the stuff this man has done and he’s still running around. It’s ridiculous.”
Armstrong, who said she plans to vote for President Joe Biden in November, said she doesn’t think Trump should be allowed to run for president.
The reactions came Thursday afternoon after Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Jurors deliberated for nine-and-a-half hours over two days before convicting Trump of all 34 counts he faced. Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below — where supporters and detractors of the former president were gathered — could be heard in the hallway on courthouse’s 15th floor where the decision was revealed.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.