Media anxiety spike after Trump urges supporters to 'protest' his potential arrest: 'January 6 talk'

Prominent media figures took to Twitter to vent their anxiety over former President Donald Trump calling on Americans to protest his potential arrest and "take our country back."

Many pundits associated Trump’s message, which he put out over Truth Social, as a call to violence and more "January 6 talk," referencing the Capitol riot that happened in January 2021.

The former President put out a lengthy Truth Social message decrying the news that the New York DA is likely to arrest him next week. Reports have indicated that Trump is could be indicted over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels he made while he was a presidential candidate in 2016.

NEW YORK PROSECUTORS SIGNAL TRUMP MAY FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES FROM STORMY DANIELS SCANDAL

After speaking with a court source, Fox News Digital reported Friday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is planning to meet "with law enforcement to ‘discuss logistics for some time next week, which would mean that they are anticipating an indictment next week.’"

Trump ripped into the news in an indignant, all-caps post Saturday morning, during which he also acknowledged he might very well be detained. 

He wrote, "NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"

Journalists fixated on Trump’s last phrase about protesting and taking back the nation, claiming this was clearly a push for civil unrest. 

Politico Senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney tweeted about the developments, writing, "Predicting imminent charges against him in Manhattan, Trump called on supporters Saturday to ‘take our nation back,’ an ominous exhortation reminiscent of his Jan. 6 calls." 

TRUMP ATTORNEY CALLS OUT ‘COMPLETELY WEAPONIZED’ LEGAL SYSTEM AS MANHATTAN DA WEIGHS INDICTMENT

He added, "Lots of similarities to 1/6 calls by Trump, including giving backers a target day to gather. But unlike two years ago, there’s no natural place to convene, or even a certainty that Tuesday is the correct day."

"American Whitelash" author and journalist Wesley Lowery noted, "a major risk in indicting Trump has always been that there are millions of people who (baselessly) believe him the country’s legitimate leader and millions more who see him as the head of their movement - portion of whom have shown they are willing to attempt a coup if he asks."

Presidential historian and NBC News pundit Michael Beschloss wondered, "Will social media be available to amplify him if he calls for national violence?"

The Independent columnist Ahmed Baba wrote, "Trump tells his supporters to protest and ‘take our nation back.’ Law enforcement better be prepared this time because that’s January 6 talk."

HuffPost senior editor Philip Lewis said, "’Protest, take our nation back’ is not politician speak. That is Trump calling for violence, and that is clear."

MSNBC contributor David Corn commented, "And in recent posts he has excused or dismissed the violence of January 6. He is an authoritarian willing to (again) use violence for his own ends. That is a threat to the nation."

The Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson remarked on Trump’s statement on the arrest and potential protests, tweeting, "Will be wild."

States may not block Ohio train derailment waste, EPA chief says

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said Friday that for states to block contaminated waste from a toxic train derailment in Ohio was "impermissible." 

"This is impermissible and this is unacceptable," he said, noting that there was no reason for states to block shipments of the type of waste that certified facilities routinely handle every day.

Some of the states have sought to block those shipments from being sent to hazardous waste storage sites. 

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said last week that he had stopped waste from the derailment from coming into his state.

TRAIN CARRYING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DERAILS IN NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA

The governor's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. 

In a letter to the states, the agency said that blocking the shipments was likely in violation of federal law, as well as the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which the EPA said limits the power of states to stop the movement of hazardous waste.

The EPA told Norfolk Southern on Friday that it expects the rail operator to pursue legal action if it is unable to ship the waste to certified disposal facilities.

"A state that blocks these waste shipments may be impeding Norfolk Southern’s ability to comply with obligations under CERCLA, as well as EPA’s order to Norfolk Southern, which is unlawful," Regan told reporters, per The Hill. "We’ve been abundantly clear with our state partners that waste from East Palestine has been subject to more testing and more analysis … than other similar waste regularly accepted at facilities nationwide."

CERCLA, or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, provides a Federal "Superfund" to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment.

KENTUCKY TRAIN DERAILMENT FORCES 21 RAILCARS OFF TRACKS, NO THREAT TO PUBLIC

Regan also noted on Twitter Friday that cleanup following the derailment should be completed in about three months. Thus far, per the EPA, crews have removed nearly 5,500 tons of contaminated soil and 7 million gallons of wastewater.

"But let me be clear: @EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up the mess it made — and no one should impede or prevent this cleanup as we return East Palestine to the beautiful community residents know it to be," he wrote. "That’s why I directed my team to issue two notifications: one to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and the other to EPA’s co-regulators across the country. These letters remind both the company and our state partners of their legal obligations on waste management."

"The residents of East Palestine should expect that states, private companies and the federal government will work together to effectuate the swift cleanup they deserve. That’s exactly what EPA has set out to do, and we will not tolerate anything less," Regan asserted.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Previously, the EPA had briefly stopped the contaminated waste removal when concerns were raised about oversight of where it was being shipped to sites in Michigan and Texas. Hazardous waste sites in Ohio and Indiana also have received shipments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.