In his first interview since the arrest former president Donald Trump in Georgia in a 2020 election-related racketeering case, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat described the surreal moment that Trump became the first-ever U.S. president to have his mug shot taken “heartbreaking.”
Labat also described Trump as “stoic” at the jail, where he voluntarily submitted to booking before posting $200,000 bail and leaving soon after, and also remarked that the building was “eerily quiet” during the proceedings.
Georgia Sheriff Calls Having To Take Donald Trump’s Mugshot At Booking ‘Heartbreaking’
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat appeared on CNN September 8th to speak with host Erin Burnett about the arrest of Donald Trump, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes account of the surreal situation, starting with Trump’s bond paperwork being “brought to the motorcade so that we could get him in and off the premises as quickly as possible.”
Of the former president’s demeanor, Labat noted, “[Trump] came out, he was very stoic, really in a space that he was able to really lean on what we were doing, what we planned, and so we took his mug shot, took his fingerprints, as we would anybody else.” The sheriff also confessed that the moment Trump was booked and his mug shot was taken upset him: “On a personal level, it was heartbreaking to see someone of that [stature], and who represents our country in that fashion, having to go through this.”
Sheriff Labat shared that the entire jail felt strange during the proceedings. “Having been in law enforcement for 32 years, having been in a jail environment equally as long, it was eerily quiet when you have that many security protocols in place,” he told Burnett.
Trump Recently Arrested In Connection With 2020 Election Claims
The former president faces a bevvy of legal issues at present, including this recent arrest. Trump became the first American president ever to be arrested when he voluntarily surrendered to booking at Fulton County Jail in August 24th on felony charges in connection with alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. He left the jail fairly soon after within the same evening.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the 2020 election, and has vehemently opposed any beliefs that he was involved in the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol. "Joe Biden, Democrats, and 'Never-Trumpers' are scared to death because they see polls showing President Trump winning in the general election," Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Chung said in a statement. "The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition much like the political prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and D.C. There is no legal basis for this effort."
The former president just filed for the charges to be dismissed in the Georgia election case on September 11th, marking the first time he has formally moved to dismiss the charges in this particular indictment.
