ATLANTA — Due to the unprecedented nature of former President Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia, the U.S. Secret Service has been working in coordination with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office to prepare for his arrival in Atlanta, and his surrender at the Fulton County Jail.
Channel 2′s Mark Winne was at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Thursday, where Trump is expected to land before heading into the city, and eventually, to the jail.
As the former president’s plane flies closer to touching down at the Atlanta Airport, Channel 2 Action News is taking a closer look at how the Secret Service and local law enforcement are preparing for the visit.
Winne spoke with a former Atlanta police chief, who is also close to Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat, the man overseeing operations at the jail, to learn more.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Factors shaping retired Atlanta police Chief Rodney Bryant’s perspective on the day’s widely-anticipated visit to Atlanta by former President Trump include his participation in plenty of presidential motorcades, which he says go back to his days as a young sergeant on the Atlanta Police Department’s Motor Squad.
He told Channel 2 Action News that as a deputy chief, the motorcycle unit which participates in nearly every presidential visit to Atlanta was part of his command.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work on many presidential and dignitary details that visited the city of Atlanta,” Bryant said.
The retired chief said he also has a close personal perspective on the Fulton County Sherif, too.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Ga. election interference co-defendant previously charged with assaulting FBI agent
- PHOTOS: Mugshots of people booked so far in the Georgia election interference investigation
- House GOP announces investigation into Fulton D.A. Fani Willis
“Pat and I have a very close relationship,” Bryant said.
Labat is the sheriff who oversees the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street in Atlanta, where the former president may be photographed in a mugshot and fingerprinted as a result of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization indictment charged by the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis.
“I think he understands the level of what it brings to him and his office, and so I’m confident that he’ll do this without any serious hiccups,” Bryant said.
Bryant said APD and other local and state agencies are nearly always key to the U.S. Secret Service Protection Plan when a current or former president visits Atlanta.
“Having presidential visits and dignitaries come to our city is very common and so we work very closely with federal and state partners,” Bryant explained.
Retired Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Ray Moore told Channel 2 Action News last week that how the president arrives at the jail will be the same as going to a hotel.
“It’s just a jail this time. They will put in place protective protocols to keep former President Trump safe and secure,” Moore said.
Speaking with Winne over the phone Thursday, Moore said he’s confident the Secret Service has a plan with local and state partners to take Trump to the jail by presidential motorcade, protect him while he is in the jail, then get him back to his plane.
“As you recall, President Trump came to the City of Atlanta in a football game and to be able to secure the president in an open facility like that has to be daunting,” Bryant said. “But we were able to do it, in partnership with many of the people that you’re speaking of, to include the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. It went off without any problems at that time, and I’m confident that we’ll see something very similar to that.”
Bryant, the current president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, says local, state and federal agencies in Atlanta have a national reputation for being able to work together.
New Trump defense attorney Steve Sadow has been quoted suggesting the former is innocent of all charges leveled by the Fulton County DA’s office.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
OTHER NEWS:
©2023 Cox Media Group
