ATLANTA–While basking in the afterglow of his popular interview with Tucker Carlson, former President Donald Trump announced Thursday afternoon: “But please excuse me, I have to start getting ready to head down to Atlanta, Georgia...arrest time: 7:30 p.m.”
In a post on Truth Social, the former president said there was an absurdity in facing arrest in a city where murder and violent crime rates are among the nation’s highest. Yet President Trump said he must submit to arrest “by a radical left, lowlife district attorney, Fani Willis, for a perfect phone call, and having the audacity to challenge a rigged & stolen election. The evidence is irrefutable!”
He and 18 co-defendants are accused of “conspiring” to break Georgia’s election laws by knowingly making false claims of election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election, which ended with Democrat Joe Biden being declared the winner.
President Trump said that his interview with Mr. Carlson, which aired on X, formerly known as Twitter, attracted more than 200 million views, drawing attention away from the GOP presidential debate that he skipped. Eight of his rivals appeared in a live broadcast on Fox News during the same time slot that Mr. Carlson broadcast his episode with President Trump on X. That platform counts a “view” as anytime a user sees the post, regardless of whether they watched the video.
The former president called the show “the biggest video on social media ever.”
Crowd Awaits Arrival
Meanwhile, the Fulton County Jail buzzed with spectators outside.
Crowds began gathering very early on Thursday in anticipation of the former president’s historic trip to have a mugshot taken–a first in U.S. history.
The former president has made the history books repeatedly as he has been investigated and cleared of wrongdoing, including during two failed impeachment attempts. However, he now faces four criminal indictments, including the latest one that accuses him of 13 election-meddling offenses in Georgia. In his three earlier indictments, authorities did not require the former president take a mugshot.
But officials in Fulton County have said they intended to distribute a jail-booking photo of President Trump, adding fuel to Republican accusations that Ms. Willis’ prosecution of the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner is “politically motivated.” Ms. Willis, a Democrat, has stated that her office followed the facts and the law in presenting the case to a grand jury.
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday launched an investigation into that concern and others. Likewise, Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore (R-Trenton), is calling for a special session of the state senate to investigate Ms. Willis’ actions.
The Epoch Times has sought comment from her office but did not receive a response by publication time.
“Today, Donald Trump, who has been taken political prisoner, is going to be booked in this jail. The 200,000 people that I represent, who sweat hard every day for their tax dollars, they don’t want their tax dollars funding this corrupt District Attorney Fani Willis,” he said. “
We, as a legislature, me as a senator, we have a job to do. We have a constitutional duty to provide oversight against executive and judicial officers, and that’s why I’m demanding that we call a special session today.”
Trump Supporters Gather
As the day wore on, word spread that a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) suggested that the former president would not likely arrive until evening.Before 7 a.m., parking was already at a premium outside the jail as news crews and demonstrators gathered to await President Trump.
Since Aug. 23, many of the former president’s alleged co-conspirators have been booked and released on bond from the jail.
By about 7:15 a.m., about 20 supporters of the former president, carrying placards and wearing T-shirts with the slogan, “Blacks for Trump,” showed up. They chanted, “Trump, Trump, Trump!”
One of the protesters, who is known as “Michael the Black Man” on various radio stations and has been a fixture at Trump rallies for years, took aim at Ms. Willis, who is also black.
He accused her of being motivated by the laws allowing the state to seize defendants’ assets.
Also present were a few protesters carried signs supporting Ms. Willis’ prosecution of the former president, with slogans such as “Fani Willis Will Bring Trump Down” and “Do Not Let Trump Get Away With Organized Crime.”
Janelle Clodfelter of Duluth, Georgia, wearing a “Defund the Media” T-shirt, said she wasn’t part of an organized group. She just came because she loves Trump and is opposed to “political persecution.”
One demonstrator shouted about President Trump: “The guy’s an American hero! He did nothing wrong.”
Mike Boatman of Evansville, Indiana, said he has participated in 71 Trump events and 60 rallies, including the latest outside the Georgia jail.
Mr. Boatman repeatedly ran up and down the street with a huge Trump flag billowing behind him.
By 10 a.m., hundreds of people were present, including dozens of Trump supporters and a handful of anti-Trump protesters. But the largest group was made up of news crews.
The sound of dogs barking at the animal control shelter across the street mingled with protesters’ chants. Police unloaded crowd-control barricades from a truck, erecting them to keep people out of the roadway.
