Attorney: Trump can “expect a humiliating experience” at Fulton jail if he’s treated like others

If former President Donald Trump is really treated like any other person charged with crimes when he’s processed at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia as local sheriff Patrick Labat promised, he’ll likely be in for a “humiliating experience,” Atlanta-based lawyer Michael Harper told Insider. Harper, who has sued the jail multiple times on behalf of the families of men who died while in custody, said that the facility’s intake area is huge and that detainees are typically booked in front of others undergoing the process.

“He can expect a humiliating experience,” Harper told the outlet Tuesday. “Just being searched, photographed, and fingerprinted amongst other people.” If all is as usual at the jail, Trump will likely be “surrounded by people charged with everyday crimes” like murder and rape, he said. “This is not a federal prison of white-collar criminals here,” he added, noting that the jail is “certainly not the accommodations Donald Trump will be used to.” Harper explained that the typical booking process can last hours as detainees move from station to station and are subject to a physical search, a full-body scan and a medical intake screening before having their mugshot taken and being fingerprinted.  

Harper has sued what he called “the worst county jail in Georgia” three times since 2018, including for the family of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson, who died last year inside a filthy cell, a case that helped prompt a Justice Department investigation into the facility’s conditions. A Georgia grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants over their alleged conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state. The former president was granted a $200,000 bond on Monday and is expected to turn himself in to authorities at the jail Thursday evening.