Donald Trump supporters are increasingly concerned for the former president’s life after it emerged he and others indicted by a Georgia grand jury this week will be booked at an Atlanta jail that is currently under federal investigation.
The 77-year-old has until next Friday to turn himself into Fulton County Jail, which has been described as “unhygienic” and “overcrowded”, where scabies outbreaks have occurred and several prisoners have been found dead in their cells.
Just earlier this month the jail reached a settlement with the family of a man who died in a bedbug-infested cell in the county jail’s psychiatric wing.
Lashawn Thompson, 35, died in September, only three months after he was booked. Attorneys Ben Crump and Michael Harper, who represent Thompson’s family, said in a news release that the family has reached settlements with the county “and other unidentified entities.”
Thompson’s death gained public attention in April after Harper released photos of his face and body covered in insects.
While Trump – a known germaphobe – along with his 18 co-defendants, were indicted on Monday on charges of attempting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election.
They were told they had until noon on August 25 to surrender, or else arrest warrants would be issued.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Natalie Ammons said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to Fulton County Jail by an alternative name: “At this point, based on guidance received from the district attorney’s office and presiding judge, it is expected that all 19 defendants named in the indictment will be booked at the Rice Street Jail.
“Keep in mind, defendants can turn themselves in at any time. The jail is open 24/7. Also, due to the unprecedented nature of this case, some circumstances may change with little or no warning.”
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Trump supporters claim his life will be at risk if he is arrested at the Atlanta facility.
One concerned person posted on X: “The Biden DOJ is currently investigating the Fulton County Jail for safety violations.
“Despite this, the Democrats are going to force Donald Trump to be arrested at this dangerous facility.
“The deranged globalists are intentionally putting a President’s life in danger.”
Others also called attention to the conditions at the jail and the number of people who have died there.
Antony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, wrote in a post on the platform: “I wouldn’t wish the conditions in the Fulton County Jail on my worst enemy.
“If you think that making jokes about the jail in Atlanta is all well and good because Donald Trump is the butt of them, you may wish to stop and inform yourself of the inhumane ways people have died there.”
Footage from inside the jail – built in 1985 – shows the dreadful conditions of broken equipment, filthy halls and trash strewn throughout the area.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said officials will follow “normal practices” when processing Trump. That would usually include fingerprinting, handcuffing and a booking photo.
The Georgia indictment is his fourth, and so far, none have taken his mugshot, arguing that he is sufficiently well known. He has also not been cuffed.
It’s unlikely that Trump will spend time in the jail itself, which is intended to house 1,300 inmates but has held more than 3,000 people in recent years.
Fallon McClure of the ACLU of Georgia said: “It’s essentially been overcrowded since it was built. This has just been a perpetual cycle over and over for years.”
The Southern Center for Human Rights said the site provides “unhygienic living conditions” that have led to outbreaks of Covid-19, lice and scabies.
It found inmates were “significantly malnourished”, the BBC reported, and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.
Several prisoners have died in recent months, including a 34-year-old man was found unconscious in a medical unit cell last week.
Last month, 19-year-old Noni Battiste-Kosoko died in Fulton County jail custody, although she was held at a different site.
In September 2022, Lashawn Thompson died after being housed in the jail in conditions akin to a “torture chamber,” his attorneys said.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office itself said the building is “dilapidated and rapidly eroding”, and is seeking the construction of a new $1.7 billion jail.
McClure, of the ACLU, said she had little faith that the jail would be refurbished.
She said: “There’s been a lot of talk of cleaning it up. We have not really seen or heard anything particularly significant. It seems like a lot of posturing.”
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