In the USA, the principle normally applies: all people are equal in front of the police photographer. Whether rich or poor, famous or nobody: anyone who is arrested or charged has to pose for a so-called mugshot, in front of the size chart with a name tag in hand. And because these photos are usually published, police photos of Hollywood stars and other celebrities in particular often go around the world afterwards – no matter how deranged or contrite the people photographed look in the pictures. Elvis was not spared and there are numerous other examples, as the gallery below shows. Fallen figures of light who seem deeply human on the ground of facts make the audience happy.
So mugshots are almost a part of US pop culture, you could say. Officially, however, the recordings are used for documentation and identification, in the event of an escape they could be used for a search. Mugshots are simply a police detective routine and nobody is spared them – except apparently Donald Trump. According to media reports, the ex-US President had to give his fingerprints before his indictment in New York, but he did not have to take a police photo. However, the recordings would probably not have been published anyway because the state of New York has no longer necessarily released them since a change in the law in 2019 and can also withhold them.
Trump was apparently able to escape normal procedures, but nothing is normal when it comes to the first indictment against a former US president. However, the decision could not only have been made to protect Trump, as law professor Michael Meltsner suspects on the Northeastern University website. “They (the authorities, editor’s note) take an anti-martyr stance,” says Meltsner. In fact, it was suspected in advance that not only opponents of the ex-president, but also Trump himself and his supporters could excessively exploit and market the mugshots.
Trump himself is already offering t-shirts with the “official Trump mugshot” for sale on his campaign website. The price is apparently based on the goal of becoming the 47th President of the United States next year: the camisoles, which show an “official” picture that was officially never created, cost a mere 47 US dollars (almost 43 euros).
Sources: “Forbes”, CBS, Northeastern University
