Mugshots Of Infamy

Indignities. No special privileges. Everyone will be treated the same. That’s what we are told happens to someone who is suspected of and has been indicted for committing a criminal act. We saw that happen last week in Fulton County in Georgia when 18 co-defendants of former president Donald Trump turned themselves in to go through a booking/processing procedure that people who are facing a trial go through. By now, the mugshots of Donald Trump and those who are facing trial in state court are already in the history books, something that so many thought would never happen. The biggest mugshot that everyone is talking about is that of Donald Trump. Rudy Giuliani is a close second followed by Mark Meadows. No one wants to have a picture of themselves plastered all over the front page especially if it is related to criminal activity. Trump loves to have his picture taken with the who-who’s of the world just to show his status as an elite individual who has people in awe of him just because of who he is. The mugshot of him that has been around the world changed all of that. For all of the things that leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un have allegedly done to their people, there are no mugshots of them anywhere. Trump no doubt, like the rest of his co-defendants didn’t want to pose for those pictures and has to suffer the indignities of being seen as a common criminal. These are the people of the law-and-order party who have been quick to point the finger at President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as criminals without providing a shred of evidence remotely proving any criminal activity. Simply, Fulton County DA Fani Willis has the evidence, a grand jury, and a judge to show cause why Trump and company had to turn themselves in and take those dreaded mugshots.

Several of those defendants actually smiled for the camera as if they were there at the jail having a good time. Some had looks on their faces probably saying to themselves “this can’t be happening to me” or “how can I explain this?”, or “how did I end up in this crap?”. Then there were those “looks of defiance” on several faces led by Trump that seemed to suggest no jail would hold them. However, as of right now, all of them are presumed innocent until they have been tried in a court of law, as we see at least two of them have requested speedy trials. Legal experts say that amounts to a roll of the dice, seeing that Fani Willis took two years to compile her case and with a grand jury agreeing with what she presented to it in order to secure the indictments, shows that she is confident of her case. Not everyone in the Republican Party and in right-wing media is happy with the indictments, especially the ones pertaining to Trump. There are those who insist that Willis is on a witch hunt and that her motives are political, having nothing to do with justice. They are even saying that the “American people should decide” what happens to Trump during the 2024 presidential election, knowing that if he wins, there is no chance of him facing a trial. They had no solution for Trump’s co-defendants as to what their fates would be. True to form, Trump and his supporters will no doubt find ways to cash in on his notoriety from his mugshot through selling merchandise. Again, Trump will come out on top, while people like Rudy and Meadows, and company will have to look for ways to pay their attorneys. One also has to wonder how the history of this moment will be taught in schools a few years from now. If any of the defendants serve time in prison and are released, will they be taught any skills that will be of benefit to them after prison, as some schools in the South are about to teach Black/white kids about the “benefits” that Black people derived from slavery? That would be interesting. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.