Updates: Ex-President Trump surrenders, mugshot taken at Fulton jail

Trial lawyer and former Baltimore prosecutor Debbie Hines told Al Jazeera she believes Trump’s mugshot is a “significant” step for equal treatment within the court system.

She explained that all the individuals she represents have to be processed through the court system – and that includes taking a booking photo.

“There is nothing that should be any different in the case of Donald Trump, except that in the three other cases, he did not have a mugshot,” Hines said. “And that just gave him what I believe is preferential treatment as opposed to what everyone else gets.”

Trump has made his first post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, since being suspended in January 2021 – and he used his booking photo from the Fulton County jail to promote his 2024 reelection campaign.

“Never surrender!” he posted with a link to his website, where the mugshot was also featured prominently with an appeal for donations.

https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/Mcbf2xozsY

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2023

Trump has been the subject of three prior indictments – but only in his fourth has he been required to take a mugshot as part of his arrest record.

Authorities in many jurisdictions have discretion over whether to take photos of defendants when they are arrested. And given Trump’s status as a public figure with a well-known profile, having a photo on file was not necessary to identify him for future proceedings.

But in Georgia, where Trump faces his latest indictment, officials were determined to treat Trump as they would any other person they arrested.

“Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told Atlanta station WSB-TV after the indictment was issued.

Trump has again made history, becoming the first former president in the US to have his mugshot taken.

The photo was released after Trump surrendered in Georgia.

It showed the former president wearing a blue blazer and red tie, staring tersely into the camera.

Trump has been charged with racketeering under Georgia’s RICO law for his efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results in the state.

But prosecuting such a charge can be complex, and other charges of the 13 against Trump could represent a bigger threat, Frank Bowman, a legal expert, told Al Jazeera.

“Georgia has a number of fairly narrow statutes having to do, for example, with making false statements to government officials to affect government action that are simpler to prosecute,” Bowman said.

“I think if I’m Mr Trump’s lawyer, I’d be concerned not so much really about the RICO charges, but the variety of other Georgia-specific statutes that may make this a simpler case to prove against Mr Trump.”

Trump supporters and protesters gathered in the Georgia heat outside of Fulton County jail, but the scene outside was largely without incident, Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan reported.

“Because of the heat, there were a few tempers flaring,” she said.

“But overall, people made their points very wildly, very strongly, very firmly, but not with any real antagonism towards the people who were listening to them,” she said.

Trump’s statements in Georgia preview what his likely defence in the trial will be, Claire Finkelstein, the director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, told Al Jazeera.

“He’s already laid out exactly what the strategy is, to say that, ‘Look, it was an invalid election and I have the right to challenge it’. And, of course, that’s what his lawyers are going to be arguing,” she said.

“So that’s a that’s a tough road to hoe,” she said.

Trump has briefly spoken to reporters at the tarmac in Atlanta, Georgia, as he prepared to leave the state.

“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong,” he said.

He called the Georgia case, and the three other criminal cases against him, “election interference”.

“We have every right every single right to challenge an election that we think is dishonest,” he said.

Trump’s mugshot was not immediately released, but US media has reported it was indeed taken.

That makes Trump the first former president in US history to have a mugshot taken – something he’s avoided in his three previous indictments.

Trump arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, where he travelled in a motorcade from the city’s international airport to Fulton County jail.

He spent just 20 minutes inside the facility, where he was booked on 13 charges, before departing in the motorcade.

Trump has left Fulton County jail after just 20 minutes, where he was booked on charges related to efforts to overturn the state’s presidential election results.

While supporters and protesters had gathered at the jail all day, his brief stop at the facility was largely without incident.

Trump did not speak to the public or reporters while at the jail.

As Trump arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, to face the latest round of charges, President Joe Biden decided it was a good time to raise funds for his 2024 re-election bid.

“Apropos of nothing, I think today’s a great day to give to my campaign,” the Democratic president posted on social media, with a link to his donation page.

While Trump’s legal woes have done little to damage his lead among Republican candidates, analysts believe his four indictments could prove to be liabilities in the general election.

Apropos of nothing, I think today's a great day to give to my campaign. https://t.co/Tj5cURqgQT

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 24, 2023

The arrest represents the fourth time the former president has surrendered to face criminal charges.

He faces 13 charges in Georgia in connection with efforts to subvert the state’s 2020 election results.

Trump was expected to have his mugshot taken while being processed at the Fulton County jail, after not being subjected to photographs during his initial appearances in three other criminal cases.

Trump has surrendered to face charges at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia.

Trump’s motorcade has arrived at Fulton County jail, where he is set to turn himself in.

Reporting from Atlanta, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said the expected mugshot of Trump is “incredibly important”.

“Mugshot taken will become an iconic image. If you think about famous Americans you’ve seen in those pictures in the past, you think of Frank Sinatra, you think of Al Capone, and now on that list, you’re going to add Donald J Trump,” he said.

A mugshot was not taken in Trump’s three previous indictments.

Trump’s motorcade has left Atlanta’s airport and is on the way to Fulton County jail.

Reporting from Atlanta, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said that 11 of Trump’s co-defendants have so far turned themselves in.

That leaves seven others facing a Friday at noon deadline to do so, or an arrest warrant will be issued.

“The clock is ticking,” Fisher said.

Trump has landed in Atlanta, where he will turn himself in to face charges related to efforts to subvert Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.

Trump is expected to travel directly from the airport to the Fulton County jail.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a US congresswoman from Georgia who has fashioned herself as one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, has arrived at the Fulton County jail.

Greene was not swept up in the Georgia indictment against Trump and his co-defendants, but she was nevertheless prominent in spreading election misinformation in the wake of the 2020 vote.

She was also present at Trump’s arraignment in New York on charges related to hush money payments to a porn star. There, she was largely drowned out by protesters as she sought to hold a rally in support of the former president.