Tell us if you’ve heard this one before: Former president Donald Trump was arrested this week on criminal charges.

As Trump surrendered after his fourth criminal indictment — this time in Fulton County, Georgia, where he and a host of others face criminal RICO charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election — the news of Trump being arrested has perhaps grown stale.

However, because Atlanta doesn’t play, this new set of charges is the first time that Trump, as well as a host of codefendants, have gone through the full arrest process, including having their mugshots taken and publicly released. And social media has been going IN on Trump and company as the pictures hit the internet.

Even before Trump showed up in Georgia to be processed at the Fulton County jail, X (formerly known as Twitter) was awaiting the release of his picture, with #TrumpMugshot trending.

“The greatest mugshot of all time about to hit the internet,” one user wrote.

The wait for the mugshot lasted most of Thursday, as Trump arrived in Fulton County around 7 p.m. and was processed shortly after. Several fake mugshots circulated throughout the day before the genuine picture emerged after 8 p.m. ET, featuring Trump looking quite mad.

 

One person compared Trump’s mugshot to that of former Mafia boss John Gotti.

Another post presented Trump, former host of The Apprentice, as an outgoing contestant of another reality TV competition.

Journalist and music industry veteran Naima Cochrane predicted the image will spark “the Black Twitter Photoshop Olympics.”

So far, the internet has not failed to deliver, putting Trump in a variety of scenarios.

One user posted a video compilation that turned Trump into everything from an anime character to an album cover.

Trump himself, never one to pass up an opportunity for self-promotion, used the mugshot as his return post to the X social media platform, making a defiant post with the mugshot.

Trump wasn’t the only person to have their picture taken at the Fulton County jail. By the time the former president surrendered on Thursday, at least nine of his codefendants had surrendered and been processed at the jail.

A number of people found particular satisfaction in seeing Rudy Giuliani’s mugshot, given his history as a prosecutor who used RICO charges against organized crime and a mayor who heavily policed Black and brown communities in New York City. Blogger Chanteezy tweeted, “The slum of South Brooklyn is getting what he deserves…. Karma.”

Writer and activist Maya Contreras analyzed the odd smile that Jenna Ellis chose to display in her mugshot, seeing it as a possible attempt to hide guilt.

Jules Morgan noted that Atlanta-based lawyer Ray Smith, who helped Trump as he attempted to challenge thousands of votes in Georgia, “looks like a creepy hit man.”

By Thursday, an array of nine mugshots of Trump’s codefendants started making the rounds on social media, drawing comparison to a criminal version of the Brady Bunch.

Jemele Hill had a slightly different take, declaring, “Each one of these folks look like the villain in an SVU episode.”

And one imaginative X user reimagined the group as Batman villains.

Hours before Trump’s surrender, Harrison Floyd — head of Black Voices for Trump — turned himself in; unlike the others, he did not reach a bond agreement and remains in custody.

With these mugshots spread across everything from memes to merchandise, expect to see these pictures across the internet for some time to come. And given the slew of criminal charges these people face, expect to see them on the news and in courtrooms for the foreseeable future as well.

ConvictionmugshotsRICOSocial Media,Trump