Well, I sounds like we’re not going to get to see a mug shot of Donald Trump, following his arraignment in New York City.
And unfortunately, Judge Juan Merchan denied the request from news organizations to allow video cameras in the courtroom. The former president was previously a reality TV show host for the popular NBC show ‘The Apprentice’, so we know he’s comfortable in front of a camera.
Exceedingly comfortable, in fact.
But how about the mug shot? When he was taken into custody on Tuesday, the former president was fingerprinted as part of the booking process, but his mug shot was not taken, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Fortunately, America has developed some great computer applications that can be used for creating fraudulent mug shots.
But before we get into the subject of fake mug shots, I thought it would be fun to review some famous, historical mug shots.
The first ‘mug shot’ ever taken, in 1888, was of Alphonse Bertillon, a French police officer and researcher. Bertillon believed that a standardized method of photographing accused criminals would be an improvement over the rather random method of photography then in use. He posed in two portraits, one from the front and one in profile, and attached it to a card with his name, the date, and other useful information.
His idea caught on quickly. Even in Russia.
Here’s Vladimir Lenin in a mug shot taken by the Okhrana, the Russian secret police, circa 1897. Twenty years later, he would be the head of the new revolutionary government of Soviet Russia.
When actress and political activist Jane Fonda was arrested in Cleveland in 1970, she raised up a defiant fist in her mug shot. (The charges were dropped, and Fonda still sells T-shirts with the image on her website.)
Here’s Microsoft founder Bill Gates, in his early 20s, arrested for running a stop sign and failure to have his drivers license handy. Obviously, the arrest didn’t put a dent in his future earning capacity.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, getting booked for ‘abuse of power’ in 2014. Nice tie.
Former TV show host Donald Trump.
Oh, yes, I found lots of fake mug shots posted on the internet, and a few of them were clever. Most were pretty tacky. So, in the interests of propriety, I decided not to show any of them.
But I liked the photo above… which might be an actual, non-faked photo… of Trump with his hands up.
“Hands up, Mr. Trump. You’re under arrest.” Ha ha ha!
Okay. some people — maybe a lot of people — are going to be offended by that little joke. After all, Donald Trump was liked by enough Americans, in 2016, to get him elected President of the United States.
And many of those people, no doubt, see the current criminal charges as a political witch hunt.
So much for propriety.