Former President Donald Trump apparently took what he thinks is a glam-worthy, campaign-focused mug shot, and he may be right. His supporters are rushing to buy his mug merch, and many no doubt are throwing money at him because they see him as a victim. His campaign raised more than $9 million in just three days.
Trump is the first former U.S. president to get a mug shot because of criminal charges. He's among 19 people charged by the Fulton County District Attorney with taking part in a scheme to reverse the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
Though he didn't have the opportunity to experience an extended stay at Le Fulton Prison and Suites, Trump was assigned inmate number P01135809, fingerprinted and booked.
Mugshot of Martin Luther King Jr following his 1963 arrest in Birmingham Date
Trump's entire booking event was abnormal. Few defendants know in advance when they will be booked, and most certainly don't have time to don their Sunday best. They don't get time for a fresh haircut or days to practice their "tough guy" stare into the camera. Heck, some barely have enough time to show up in their pajamas, an undershirt or rollers.
Will Snowden, until recently the director of the Vera Institute in New Orleans and now a teacher of constitutional law at Loyola Law School, told me it's another example of our justice system having two tracks — one for big shots like Trump, another for those without means or power.
State Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, generally doesn't support the use of booking photographs. He's called them a "scarlet letter of criminality" because too many people are later cleared — but mug shots stick around online and elsewhere. Duplessis sponsored a law significantly limiting their use. But the senator understands the clamor by Trump's supporters and detractors.
A Montgomery (Ala.) Sheriff's Department booking photo of Rosa Parks taken Feb 22, 1956, after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger on Dec. 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Montgomery County Sheriff's office) ORG XMIT: NYGP101
Trump was kicked off Facebook and Twitter (now X) in early January 2021 for violating the social media platforms' policies when X (then Twitter) actually had content standards. Always looking to take advantage of any situation, even criminal allegations, Team Trump returned to X to claim "election interference" and to tell followers that he/they should "never surrender."
The social media platforms banned Trump after he riled up a large crowd of followers on Jan. 6, 2021, and many of them violently stormed the U.S. Capitol that day. Facebook and Twitter drew the line, fearing Trump might stir more violence.
Many see Trump as a huff-and-gruff guy who is like them, a leader they can count on to say what he thinks no matter how impolite or insensitive.
Regarding the charges, Trump denies all wrongdoing. He hasn't been convicted of anything — yet.
Still, Americans are accustomed to seeing mug shots of other nations' leaders, not our own.
We have a history of high-profile celebrities, business people, elected officials and others being arrested and charged with crimes, and some of their mug shots can be easily found on the internet. Think Jane Fonda, Prince, Alvin Kamara.
Others have been high-profile people who were arrested while pursuing justice. Think Georgia's late Congressman John Lewis, who called it "good trouble."
Another example of a warrior for justice was Rosa Parks, who got arrested, charged and had a mug shot snapped in Montgomery in 1955 when she refused to give her bus seat to a White man, helping to spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Good trouble.
That's why people like Lewis, who chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as a young man, often got arrested for things like disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Before his July 2020 death, Lewis had a high-profile arrest as he protested for immigration reform in October 2013.
Good trouble.
That's why Ralph David Abernathy got arrested and had his mug shot taken in May 1961. A multi-ethnic group of civil rights activists called the Freedom Riders rode buses into the segregated South that year to help desegregate public transportation. Abernathy welcomed them to use his church as a base of operation and supported the cause.
Good trouble.
Though most Republicans disagree, most people in this country believe Trump committed crimes. That includes a third of Republicans.
The primary difference between Trump's mug shot and the mug shots of prominent folks like Abernathy, MLK, Lewis and Parks is intent. The latter got arrested and booked — with mug shots — while fighting for the rights of others. The former was laser-focused on his own power and privilege — and determined to incite violence or do whatever else was necessary to hold onto it.
It's the difference between good trouble and ... evil.
