Former president Donald Trump surrendered on Thursday on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
His 20-minute booking created a historic first: a mug shot of a former American president.
He was released on a 200,000 dollar bond and headed back to the airport for his return flight home to New Jersey.
Unrepentant but subdued after the brief jail visit, he insisted as he repeatedly has that he “did nothing wrong” and called the case accusing him of subverting election results a “travesty of justice”.
“If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge an election,” he told reporters on the airport tarmac before boarding his plane.
Felony criminal charges
Trump’s surrender to law enforcement authorities has become by now a familiar election-season routine in a way that belies the unprecedented spectacle of a former president being booked, in four different cities, on felony criminal charges.
But his visit to Atlanta was notably different from the three past surrenders, unfolding at night and requiring him to visit a problem-plagued jail — rather than a courthouse — and not in a liberal bastion like New York or Washington but rather in the heart of a battleground state vital to the 2024 presidential election.
And unlike in other cities that did not require him to pose for a mug shot, a booking photo of him was taken.
Trump landed in Atlanta shortly after 7pm and was driven, through the city’s rush-hour traffic, to jail for the booking process.
Wearing his signature white shirt and red tie, he offered a wave and thumbs up as he descended the steps of his private plane.
He completed the process in 20 minutes, providing officials as is customary with his physical measurements: 6 foot 3 inches. 215 pounds. Strawberry or blonde hair.
Reaction
The Fulton County prosecution is the fourth criminal case against Mr Trump since March, when he became the first former president in US history to be indicted.
Since then, he has faced federal charges in Florida and Washington, and this month he was indicted in Atlanta with 18 others — including his ex-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani — under a racketeering statute normally associated with gang members and organised crime.
Reaction on social media was quick to filter through.
Here’s a pick of what people had to say:
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