Trump arrested in 2020 election case, historic mugshot released

Former US president Donald Trump was arrested at a Georgia jail on Thursday on racketeering and conspiracy charges and released on a $200,000 bond after having a historic mugshot taken.
Trump, who is accused of colluding with 18 other defendants to overturn the 2020 election result in the southern state, spent less than 30 minutes inside Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail before leaving in a motorcade for the airport.
Like the other defendants in the case who have surrendered so far, the 77-year-old Trump had his mugshot taken during the booking process – a first for any serving or former US president.
In the photograph released by the sheriff’s office, he scowled at the camera while dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie.
Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it was a “very sad day for America”.
“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”
Trump posted the mug shot on his own Truth Social platform with the caption “Election Interference” and a link to his campaign website.
A short while later, he also posted it on X – formerly Twitter.
With his post appealing for donations, Trump reclaimed direct access to the public on the platform that banned him following the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress by his supporters.
On November 19 the San Francisco-based app reversed its position under billionaire Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” who bought Twitter on October 2.
Trump, who had more than 88mn followers when Twitter banned him, posted a photo on Thursday of the mug shot with the words: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE! NEVER SURRENDER!”
The post garnered more than 14mn views 50 minutes after going live.
Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account in January 2021, citing the risk of further incitement of violence following the storming of the US Capitol.
He used Twitter and other social media platforms to claim his defeat in the 2020 election was due to widespread voter fraud and to share other conspiracy theories.
On November 15 Trump launched a bid to regain the White House in 2024.
Trump was given the inmate number “PO1135809” by the Fulton County Jail, which listed his height as 6’ 3” (1.9m), his weight as 215 pounds (97kg) and his hair colour as “Blond or Strawberry”.
The billionaire has been criminally indicted four times since April, setting the stage for a year of unprecedented drama as he tries to juggle multiple court appearances and another White House campaign.
Trump was able to dodge having a mugshot taken during his previous arrests this year: in New York on charges of paying hush money to an adult entertainment star, in Florida for mishandling top secret government documents, and in Washington on charges of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
A tight security perimeter was set up for Trump’s booking at the Fulton County Jail, which is under investigation for a slew of inmate deaths and deplorable conditions.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who filed the racketeering case, had set a deadline of noon on Friday for Trump and the other 18 defendants to surrender.
Trump and 11 others have turned themselves in so far.