Metropolis Desk-
In Georgia, Donald Trump turned himself in on suspicion of attempting to rig the state’s 2020 election results, leading to the first-ever mugshot of a former US president.
For his release from the Atlanta jail as he awaits trial, Mr. Trump was required to post a $200,000 (£160,000) bail bond.
He later called the situation “a travesty of justice”
This was his first police booking photo, even though this was his fourth felony arrest in five months.
Mr Trump later posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time since January 2021. He shared the address of his website and the mugshot with an all-capital letters caption: “Election interference. Never surrender!”
He joins the ranks of American public figures who have had arrest booking photos, including Frank Sinatra, Al Capone, and Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Because he is leading the Republican field to take against President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the upcoming presidential election, Mr. Trump claims that the cases against him are politically motivated.
He traveled back and forth on his jet on Thursday afternoon from New Jersey, becoming the first former or current US president to ever be indicted.
In comparison to earlier court appearances this year, Mr. Trump was driven to Fulton County Jail by a larger convoy.
He was inside the facility for around 20 minutes. Dozens of his supporters gathered outside.
Records posted on the jail’s website described Mr. Trump as a white male, 6ft 3in, and weighing 215lbs (97kg), with blond or strawberry hair and blue eyes. His inmate number was P01135809.
He informed reporters at the airport before leaving that he had the right to contest a vote’s outcome.
Trump, who frequently asserts falsely that significant election fraud occurred in 2020, said, “I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election.” “And I should have no problem doing it.
Following his narrow loss to Mr. Biden in Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes, Mr. Trump was charged last week along with 18 other defendants with tampering with election results.
The former president was heard in a phone call pressuring Georgia’s top election official to “find 11,780 votes” during the ballot count.
Among the 13 charges Mr. Trump faces are racketeering, soliciting a public official to violate his oath of office, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery, and making false statements.
He denies all the counts against him.
Each of his 18 alleged co-conspirators has been booked at Fulton County Jail in recent days ahead of a Friday deadline set by prosecutors. The list includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
One of Mr Trump’s co-defendants – the leader of Black Voices for Trump, Harrison Floyd – is being held in custody after turning himself in on Thursday without a bail agreement, court officials say.
A Georgia judge granted a speedy trial request to another co-defendant, attorney Kenneth Chesebro. His case is now due to begin on 23 October.
Just hours before turning himself in, Mr. Trump replaced his leading defense lawyer, Drew Findling, with veteran Atlanta criminal defense attorney Steven Sadow.
One of the conditions of Mr. Trump’s bail release is that he refrain from any comments, on social media or otherwise, that are intended to “intimidate” witnesses or co-defendants. He is also not allowed to have any communication with the other co-defendants, except through his lawyers.
Before traveling to Georgia, Mr. Trump continued to criticize the Democrat Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor who filed the charges, whom he accuses of attempting to ruin his presidential campaign.
He claimed in a blog post on his Truth Social platform that Ms. Willis was to blame for the murder and other violent crimes in Atlanta, saying that “people are afraid to go outside to buy a loaf of bread.”
According to the most recent police statistics, Atlanta has seen a roughly 25% decline in homicides since last year. Murders in the city increased during the epidemic, as they did in most significant US cities, but they are still far lower than they were in the 1990s.
Source- BBC News
