United States: Trump briefly incarcerated and photographed in prison, a first for an ex-president

Former US President Donald Trump appeared Thursday, August 24 in a prison in Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia and was briefly placed under arrest as part of his indictment around his electoral pressure in 2020 in this state. In an absolute first for a former president of the United States, the Republican was briefly placed under arrest, measured, weighed and photographed before being released on bail. This is the first passport photo of a former U.S. president.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in his mugshot, during his brief incarceration in Atlanta, August 24, 2023. © Fulton County Sheriff's Office / via Reuters

By: RFI Follow

Advertising

Read more

Donald Trump appeared Thursday in a prison in Atlanta, Georgia, following his indictment earlier this month as part of the investigation into his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election in this crucial state. He was narrowly beaten by current Democratic President Joe Biden.

The former Republican tenant of the White House was placed under arrest, before being released on bail, in accordance with a previously reached agreement providing for the payment of $ 200,000 and prohibiting him from threatening co-defendants or witnesses in this case.

The first US president to be criminally charged, he was also to become the first tenant of the White House to have a mug shot, in which the billionaire appears face closed and eyebrows furrowed, at the time of his arrest at the Fulton County Jail. He had not had to submit to this exercise during his previous appearances in court.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in his mugshot, during his brief incarceration in Atlanta, August 24, 2023. © Fulton County Sheriff's Office / via Reuters

He spent about twenty minutes inside the Fulton County Jail. Donald Trump was then indicted on more than a dozen counts, show prison documents, including criminal conspiracy to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The 77-year-old leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 had already been indicted three times this year, including twice as part of federal investigations overseen by special counsel Jack Smith — one into the deadly January 2021 assault on the Capitol by his supporters, the other over classified documents he allegedly illegally retained after his term ended.

This passage through the prison box in Georgia occurred the day after the first major meeting of the presidential election of 2024, the debate of the Republican primaries, organized in Wisconsin. The former real estate mogul, high in the polls for the nomination, has snubbed the debate.

" READ ALSO United States: the fourth indictment of Trump brings his judicial calendar closer to the elections

Trump denounces a "travesty of justice

»

His convoy arrived in front of the prison service entrance at 19:34 p.m. (23:34 p.m. GMT), about thirty minutes after his private plane landed at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, and was awaited by dozens of supporters including local Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is among his main supporters in the US Congress.

Donald Trump, who denounced without evidence a vast fraud to his detriment during the November 2020 election, describes the legal proceedings against him as a "witch hunt" with political motivations. This while he aspires to return to the highest office.

Before boarding his private plane to leave Atlanta, he reiterated that the case was the result of political maneuvers. "This is a very sad day for America. What happened here is a travesty of justice, he told reporters. I didn't do anything wrong, and everyone knows it ", he added, denouncing "electoral interference".

See alsoTrump indictment: "The law on organized crime makes it possible to connect cases"

His portrait to the police used as an effigy for the campaign

Donald Trump's legal setbacks have so far not dented his status as the favorite in the race for the Republican nomination for the presidential election in November 2024. On the contrary, his approval rating with the Republican electorate has been strengthened. It is expected, for example, that his supporters will use his "mug shot" as an effigy.

« 

We want to put it on a t-shirt. It's going to cross the world. It's going to become a more popular image than the Mona Lisa," said Laura Loomer, 30, a former congressional contender who was among Trump's supporters waiting for him outside the Fulton County jail.

A dozen co-defendants of Donald Trump had already surrendered to justice in Georgia this week, including his former personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York. Prison documents show that Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff, turned himself in to authorities earlier in the day.

All 19 defendants in the case have until Friday, Aug. 25, to report to the Fulton County Jail.

(With agencies)

NewsletterReceive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Share:

Read on on the same topics:

• Donald Trump
• United States