Donald Trump, a former US president, is likely to turn himself in on Thursday to face allegations that he attempted to rig the 2020 election. The Justice Department is looking into the jail's facilities in Atlanta because they are so infamous.
According to the sheriff's office, the 77-year-old former president and the 18 co-defendants in the election racketeering case will be lodged at the Fulton County Jail, also known as the Rice Street Jail.
Before being freed on bond, which in Trump's case has already been set at $200,000, a defendant must be fingerprinted and have their photograph taken.
During his three prior arrests this year—in New York on charges of paying hush money to a porn star, in Florida for improper handling of top-secret government documents, and in Washington on charges of conspiring to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election—Trump did not have to endure the humiliation of having a mugshot taken.
But last month, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told reporters that, when it comes to a booking at his jail, "it doesn't matter your status."
Labat stated, "We have a mug shot ready for you."
Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and the other co-defendants have until Friday at noon to voluntarily surrender in response to allegations they conspired to rig the election in Biden's favor.
Although he did not specify a time, Trump stated in a post on his Truth Social platform that he would be traveling to Atlanta on Thursday to be arrested.
In a fundraising campaign, he stated that it would occur at a prison that had been labeled a "humanitarian crisis," where "guards have gathered over 1,000 shanks fashioned from the crumbling walls."
John Eastman, a lawyer for Trump, and Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, two co-defendants in the racketeering case, were taken into custody at the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday and later freed on bond.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office has surrounded the complex with a strong security cordon, blocking off streets and limiting access.
The Fulton County Jail, where several inmates have died recently, is the subject of an investigation by the Justice Department that was launched in July.
It is being started, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, "based on serious allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions at the jail."
Ryan Buchanan, US Attorney, continued, "Recent allegations of filthy housing teeming with insects, rampant violence resulting in death and injuries, and officers using excessive force are cause for grave concern and warrant a thorough investigation."
The jail reportedly has twice as many inmates as it was intended to in 1989, or more than 2,500, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
