Donald Trump grew to become the primary U.S. president in historical past to have their mug shot take after he was arrested at a Georgia jail Thursday on racketeering and conspiracy expenses earlier than being launched on a $200,000 bond.
Trump, who’s accused of colluding with 18 different defendants to overturn the 2020 election end result within the southern state, spent lower than half-hour inside Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail earlier than leaving in a motorcade for the airport.
Like the opposite defendants within the case who’ve surrendered thus far, the 77-year-old Trump had his mug shot taken through the reserving course of – a primary for any serving or former U.S. president.
In the {photograph} launched by the sheriff’s workplace, he scowled on the digital camera whereas wearing a darkish blue go well with, white shirt and pink tie.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, stated it was a “very sad day for America.”
“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice,” he stated. “I did nothing wrong.”
Trump posted the mug shot on his personal Truth Social platform with the caption “Election Interference” and a hyperlink to his marketing campaign web site.
A short time later, he additionally posted it on X – previously Twitter, which was Trump’s favourite bullhorn till he was banned from it after the Jan. 6, 2021, revolt on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
New proprietor Elon Musk reinstated Trump on X in November of final yr, however Trump stayed away and posted as an alternative on Truth Social. This was Trump’s first publish since 2021 on what had been Twitter.
Trump was given the inmate quantity “PO1135809” by the Fulton County Jail, which listed his peak as 6 foot 3 inches (1.9 meters), his weight as 215 kilos (97 kilograms) and his hair coloration as “Blond or Strawberry.”
The billionaire has been criminally indicted 4 instances since April, setting the stage for a yr of unprecedented drama as he tries to juggle a number of court docket appearances and one other White House marketing campaign.
Trump was in a position to dodge having a mugshot taken throughout his earlier arrests this yr: in New York on expenses of paying hush cash to a porn star, in Florida for mishandling prime secret authorities paperwork, and in Washington on expenses of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
His arrest got here a day after Trump spurned a televised debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that includes eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – all of whom lag properly behind him within the polls.
He nonetheless stole the highlight, although, with all however two of the candidates saying they might assist him because the celebration’s nominee even when he had been a convicted felon.
Court dates in election race
A decent safety perimeter was arrange for Trump’s reserving on the Fulton County Jail, which is beneath investigation for a slew of inmate deaths and deplorable situations.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County district lawyer who filed the sweeping racketeering case, had set a deadline of Friday midday for Trump and the opposite 18 defendants to give up.
Trump and 11 others have turned themselves in thus far.
Former White House chief of workers Mark Meadows surrendered Thursday and was launched on a $100,000 bond.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s private lawyer when he was within the White House and vigorously pushed the false claims that Trump had received the 2020 election, was booked and launched Wednesday.
John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who’s accused of drawing up a scheme to submit a false slate of Trump electors to Congress from Georgia as an alternative of the legit Biden ones, has additionally been booked and launched.
A number of dozen supporters of the previous Republican president gathered exterior the jail, together with Sharon Anderson who spent the evening in her automobile.
“I think this is a political persecution and now that’s turned into a political prosecution,” Anderson advised AFP.
Trump is the primary U.S. president in historical past to face felony expenses.
His varied trials, in the event that they happen subsequent yr, might coincide with the Republican presidential main season, which begins in January, and the marketing campaign for the November 2024 White House election.
Special counsel Jack Smith has proposed a January 2024 begin date for Trump’s trial on expenses of conspiring to overturn the final election with a lie-fueled marketing campaign that culminated within the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Trump’s attorneys have countered with a prompt begin date properly after the election – April 2026.
Willis, the Georgia district lawyer, initially proposed that the racketeering case start in March subsequent yr, the identical month Trump is scheduled to go on trial in New York on expenses of paying hush cash to porn star Stormy Daniels.
On Thursday, after one of many defendants requested for a speedy trial, she proposed that it start for all 19 in October of this yr, a transfer met with a direct objection from Trump’s legal professionals.
The Florida case, wherein Trump is accused of taking secret authorities paperwork as he left the White House and refusing to return them, is scheduled to start in May.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
