It took 13-year-old Ben Shapiro some coaxing to convince his parents to wake up early so he could take the subway downtown to watch Trump’s impeachment trial in New York on Tuesday. .
“At first they said no, you’re not. It’s crazy,” said Shapiro, a New York native who was off school for the Easter holiday. But they repented.
“We didn’t think he was serious — but then he wouldn’t stop asking about it,” said Aaron Shapiro, Ben’s father.
The court judge – the classmate’s father – told Ben to go to Central Street before 7am. The wait paid off – Ben sat in the courtroom.
After 7 a.m., Owen Berenbom made the ten-minute drive to meet Hope Harrington outside her Upper West Side home. Childhood friends and both 14-year-olds took the subway downtown to Canal Street together for a chance to see the courtroom action in person.
“This is the trial of the century,” Owen said, and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see it with his own eyes. Dressed in a turquoise sweatshirt, she sat in a room full of reporters and other members of the public lining up for a chance to get a close-up look at Trump and the lawyers who defended and prosecuted him.
Hope, who wants to be a lawyer, said she’s been watching the coverage closely.
“I asked Owen how much he would bet on Trump falling asleep in court,” he said, peering into wire-rimmed glasses to chat before the judge relented.
It took some work to convince Hope’s parents to let her come to Center Street – she said they wouldn’t leave her alone. And he has other commitments. “I had a lot of homework yesterday,” she said.
Ben was in the first row and said he was surprised that there were so few New Yorkers. “There’s only 12 people in the whole town?” – he said while being drawn from behind.
He’s not doing it because he wants to be a lawyer or even necessarily a journalist. He’s just interested in politics, and he’s interested in seeing Trump, even if it’s a one-off.
“I feel like after five hours it’s going to be boring,” he said. “You can go once and be like, ‘I went there.'”