Dozens of Trump fans outside Georgia jail to show support

ATLANTA — Hours before former President Donald Trump arrived at the Fulton County Jail to turn himself in on charges related to his efforts to remain in power after his 2020 election loss, dozens of his supporters had already gathered Thursday morning outside the facility.

As afternoon passed into evening, demonstrators for and against Trump milled around outside the jail. There were more Trump supporters than opponents braving the intense Georgia summer heat, but the entire group was outnumbered by media near the Rice Street entrance to the jail, which was locked down tight. The number of people grew as the hour of Trump’s booking approached.

As word spread that Trump was on his way, demonstrators lined security barricades outside the entrance, with people two to three deep trying to get a good view. Fulton County sheriff’s deputies blocked one end of the block outside the jail’s back entrance with an empty prisoner bus, while a county dump truck blocked the other end of the block on Jefferson St.

Many in the crowd wore pro-Trump T-shirts and waved large flags facing the street, including one that proclaimed “TRUMP WON.” Shortly after 6 p.m., U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and a staunch Trump defender, spoke briefly to the crowd.

It was the fourth time this year that Trump, the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, was being booked on criminal charges. But unlike his previous arrests, which happened in courthouses just before initial appearances before a judge, this time he had to turn himself in at a notoriously troubled jail.

In another change from previous bookings, officials in Atlanta cleared roads for Trump’s journey from the airport to the jail, giving his arrival the aura of a presidential visit despite its decidedly different purpose.

In another departure, authorities said they would take a booking photo of the former president.

Trump and 18 others were indicted last week, accused by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of participating in a sprawling scheme to undermine the will of Georgia voters, who had narrowly rejected the Republican incumbent in favor of Democrat Joe Biden. Many of the others charged turned themselves in at the jail earlier this week, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis on Wednesday and John Eastman on Tuesday.

Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat had said Trump, and the others in this case, would be treated like anyone else — notably saying at a news conference earlier this month: “Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you.”

But the scene outside the jail was anything but normal Thursday.

It included supporters of the former president such as Cliff MacMorris, 66, from Naples, Florida, who held a flag that read, “Trump Won Save America.”

He and his wife, Georgine, spent the night in Atlanta.

“You don’t have the right to persecute somebody unjustly,” Cliff MacMorris said.

His wife said the indictments against the former president were politically motivated because of the four years of “prosperity, safety, freedom” that Trump achieved in the White House.

“They must be worried about him for some reason,” she said.

Sharon Anderson, 67, from east Tennessee, was outside the jail for a second straight day. She had spent the night in a car with the air conditioning running.

“I’m here to support Donald J. Trump. I want him to see some of the millions that show up at the polls for him.”

She said the indictments against Trump had only strengthened her support for him. The former president questioned the election results, which isn’t a crime, she said.

While the crowd was mostly made up of Trump supporters, 64-year-old Laurie Arbeiter, who is from New York City, wore a shirt that said “Arrest Trump” and carried more than 50 black-and-white signs with her, including ones that read “Convict Trump” and “Trump is a Traitor.” She said she’d also traveled to other places where Trump was indicted.

As midday temperatures hovered near 90 degrees, sheriff’s deputies in vests toweled off and sought shade under a tree.

The main Fulton County Jail, also known as the Rice Street Jail, is located in a traditionally industrial part of northwest Atlanta where warehouses are currently being redeveloped for retail and residential use. It’s set back from the street by a long, tree-lined driveway that leads to a parking lot in front of the jail’s imposing façade.

On most days, the public and news media are free to drive right up to the front of the jail, and news cameras have captured the arrivals and departures of many high-profile people who have been booked into the jail. But with the booking of a former president looming, the driveway off the main street in front of the jail has been closed off for days, with no reporters or cameras allowed within viewing distance of the building.

Security tightened further on Thursday. While cars had been allowed on the Rice Street side of the jail a day earlier, sheriff’s deputies cut off vehicle traffic on Thursday. Some deputies wore vests and covered their faces with black masks. They formed a line along the street.

Members of a group called Blacks for Trump hurled racial slurs at Black sheriff’s deputies. But the demonstration was otherwise peaceful early on.

While others who are booked there spend months or even years in the facility awaiting indictment or trial, Trump left the jail 20 minutes after surrendering. The jail is plagued by crumbling infrastructure and overcrowding. On Thursday morning, the jail housed 2,618 people, above its capacity of 2,254, according to data from the sheriff’s office.

The U.S. Department of Justice last month announced a civil rights investigation into jail conditions in Fulton County, citing violence, filth and the death last year of a man whose body was found covered in insects.

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Jeff Amy and Jeff Martin contributed.