The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday (Aug. 24) released one of the most historic photos in American history: the mug shot of former President Donald Trump.
Trump turned himself in to authorities in Georgia Thursday night for his fourth arrest, and while he’s been through the process multiple times, this is the first time he — or any current or former commander-in-chief — has had a mug shot of himself.
Earlier this month, Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a sweeping RICO indictment that was the result of a lengthy investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Several of Trump’s co-defendants, including coup plotter John Eastman, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former chief of staff Mark Meadows, have already turned themselves in to authorities.
Authorities make no exception for Donald Trump
The decision of several co-defendants to smile on their mugshots can be seen as an act of defiance against what they see as unlawful prosecution of their efforts to keep Trump in power. Jenna Ellis, a former Trump attorney who was arrested on Wednesday (Aug. 23), told The New York Times: “Those who mock me, my former client, and my God want to see me broken, and they won’t get that satisfaction.” Ellis made the mugshot her profile picture on Twitter.
Fulton County authorities have distanced themselves from other prosecutors who have refrained from using an official mugshot in Trump’s previous arrests. County Sheriff Pat Labat has publicly stated that he doesn’t care who Trump is and will be treated the same as any other defendant processed by the county.
“As long as nobody tells me otherwise, we’re sticking to our normal practices, and it doesn’t matter what your status is, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you,” Labat told reporters earlier this month.
The most famous mug shot of all time?
The image already has what it takes to become one of the most remarkable photos in US history. Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law and his campaign deputy, told Newsmax on Wednesday that the mugshot will be “the most famous mugshot in the history of the world.”
“This will backfire,” she said. “It will be on posters in dorm rooms, it will be on t-shirts. It will be a flag raised by people who love this country because they support Donald Trump.”
The image was eagerly awaited on social media and transformed with a slew of memes. The hashtag “TrumpMugShot” started circulating on Twitter Thursday morning and garnered a lot of interest throughout the day. Some Trump allies, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have even created their own mocking mugshots in solidarity with the former president. “I stand with President Trump against communist prosecutor Fani Willis, who is nothing more than a political hitman tasked with taking out Biden’s main political opponent,” Greene wrote, along with the hashtag #MAGAMugshot.
Merchandising and media distribution of the image is also assured, as the mug shots of Trump’s co-defendants are already being offered on print-on-demand sites such as Etsy and Redbubble. Trump will certainly take advantage of this as well. The former president is already selling items on his campaign website with a fake version of the mugshot and the words “NOT GUILTY.” The real picture will likely appear on official campaign material faster than you can say “cheese.”
This article is a translation of an article by Nikki McCann Ramirez of ROLLINGSTONE.com.