Mike Wendling
US disinformation reporter

Image source, Getty Images

On his Truth Social network, Trump has repeatedly mentioned Atlanta's crime problem.

In one post today he claimed: “Murder and other Violent Crimes have reached levels never seen before”.

He’s trying to argue that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be going after “real” criminals rather than the former president and his alleged co-conspirators.

But are his claims true?

There’s no doubt Atlanta, like most major American cities, has a problem with violent crime. But the latest police figures, external indicate that homicides have decreased by about a quarter since last year.

The local newspaper, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, recently took a deeper dive into the numbers, external. Murders in the city spiked during the pandemic, as they did in most major US cities. But they’re nowhere near the levels seen in the 1990s.

Those figures are in line with US crime stats as a whole.

Atlanta isn’t an outlier, and crime in the city certainly hasn’t “reached levels never seen before”.

It's not just Georgia, Donald Trump currently faces multiple criminal and civil cases.

In the latest episode of The Briefing Room, David Aaronovitch and guests discussed which were the most serious, what they mean for his presidential campaign and ask whether the US constitution could prevent him from taking office.

You can listen to Radio 4’s The Briefing Room here.

We've seen small - but lively - crowds of people near the Fulton County jail today.

They are from both the pro-Trump and anti-Trump camps.

These have been some of the scenes in the last few hours.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Re

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Atlanta, Georgia

We’re approaching evening here outside the Fulton County jail, where security is tightening by the minute as we await Donald Trump’s arrival.

The road leading to the jail is mostly closed, with the exception of sheriff’s vehicles.

Dozens of media outlets are here, waiting and sweating in the blistering Atlanta heat.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is en route to Atlanta, Georgia. Here’s how we expect the next few hours to play out:

• At 19:30 (00:30 BST) the former president is expected at Fulton County jail, where he’s likely to be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken.
• He’ll then head back to the airport and return to his Bedminster golf course in New Jersey. After previous court dates in New York and Florida, he stopped to speak with reporters or chat with locals - so he may make a statement before departing Georgia.
• Then at 21:00 (02:00 BST) Trump is expected to appear in an interview on the conservative television network Newsmax – a Fox News rival.

Image source, Fulton County Jail

Earlier, we reported how Donald Trump's co-defendant - attorney Kenneth Chesebro - asked the court for a speedy trial, as is his right under Georgia law.

The judge presiding over the Georgia case has now approved that request.

Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his court order that Chesebro's - and only Chesebro's - trial will now begin on 23 October.

This was the date recommended by prosecutors.

As we've reported, Donald Trump has left his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey and is headed to Atlanta to surrender at the Fulton County court house.

He won't be the only one to have surrendered today.

Earlier, we saw Harrison Floyd - the leader of Black Voices for Trump - and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows both surrender to be processed and have their mugshot taken.

Besides Trump, we're also still waiting on former justice department official Jeffrey Clark.

Otherwise, things have been relatively quiet today as reporters and the public wait for Trump in Georgia.

In total, at least 10 defendants in the case have so far surrendered.

Stay with us for more updates.

Madeline Halpert
US reporter

The former president has until now been spared a booking photo and having to interact with other defendants in his other criminal cases.

But Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat has said the department's "normal practices" will be followed when processing Donald Trump. At the jail, that means fingerprinting and a mugshot.

So far, several of Trump's alleged co-conspirators have already had mugshots taken while being booked into the Fulton County Jail, which is notorious for hazardous conditions that some inmates endure for months.

Image source, Fulton County Jail

"The Fulton County Jail, among jails, is a very disturbingly dysfunctional place," says Rachel Kaufman, an attorney in Atlanta. Trump and his 18 co-defendants "are going to witness some level of that dysfunction" when processed, she goes on.

Still, the former president won't be kept in a holding cell overnight and endure the discomfort many other defendants do, Kaufman says.

Image source, Fulton County Sheriff's Office

Harrison Floyd, the leader of Black Voices for Trump charged as one of the former president's 18 co-conspirators, has surrendered to authorities.

In a statement to CNN, Fulton County sheriff confirmed Floyd remains in custody after turning himself in without a bail agreement.

Other co-defendants booked have so far been released on bail shortly afterward turning themselves in.

Floyd has been charged with racketeering, influencing a witness and conspiring to solicit false statements.

He is also facing a separate assault charge, after allegedly attacking an FBI agent trying to serve him a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington DC.

Donald Trump left his New Jersey residence by motorcade a short while ago.

He will fly to Atlanta and surrender to Fulton County authorities later this evening.

Image source, Fulton County Jail

Authorities in Fulton County have released Mark Meadows' mugshot.

Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, served as the White House chief of staff from 2020 through the end of Donald Trump's time in office.

He was released from jail today on a $100,000 (£79,000) bond agreement with prosecutors.

Meadows had asked a judge to dismiss the two felony charges against him because the actions he took were in an "advice-and-assist function" to the US president.

But a judge earlier this week rejected that request and told him he had to surrender before Friday or face being arrested.

Adam Scott Bolden, a civil and criminal defense lawyer, said the Georgia indictment is the most “detailed” and “problematic” of former President Donald Trump’s four indictments.

The district attorney's office is trying to prove that Trump "is a political crime boss" operating within a criminal enterprise.

Donald Trump has just said he expects to be arrested at 19:30 local time (00:30BST), in a post on his social media network Truth Social, external.

The rest of the post, which is hard to describe, is below in screenshot form:

Image source, Truth Social

Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff and one of the 19 charged in this case, has recently surrendered to Fulton County authorities to be booked on charges.

He has been released on bail after paying an agreed upon $100,000 (£79,000) bond, according to official records.

Image source, Getty Images

Tom Geoghegan
Reporting from London

Image source, Getty Images

Trump's surrender in court today follows last night's heated Republican debate - which the former president did not attend, despite being the frontrunner for 2024.

One of the most illuminating moments in the debate came 20 minutes in. The reaction to it was swift and - among some young people and scientists - angry.

Did humans contribute to climate change? That was the question from the Fox News moderators to the eight presidential hopefuls on stage.

After reading out some statistics from the deadly Hawaii wildfires, they played a clip from a member of the Young Americans for Freedom group - a conservative youth activist organisation - who said climate was the number one issue for young people.

Asked to raise their hand if they thought mankind was to blame, not one went up.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley went the furthest towards agreeing with the question by saying: "Is climate change real? Yes it is."

It was up to China and India to lower emissions, she said.

Read more on this story here.

Kayla Epstein
reporting from Atlanta

There are now less than 24 hours remaining for all 19 defendants to surrender at the Fulton County jail.

Fani Willis set a deadline of noon local time on 25 August when she announced charges this month.

So far, at least nine defendants in the Georgia election racketeering case have surrendered to authorities, with Trump expected to appear at the jail this evening.

That would leave a few others who are not yet known to have surrendered. If they do not appear by the deadline, Willis could order their arrest.

Two major holdouts, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and ex-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, are attempting to have their cases moved to federal court. But a judge recently denied their bid to avoid arrest if they do not appear by Willis's deadline tomorrow.

Madeline Halpert
US reporter

Image source, Fulton County Jail

In a court filing today, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked for a 23 October start date in the trial against Trump and his 19 co-defendants in Georgia.

Defendant Kenneth Chesebro had filed a motion to demand a speedy trial, as is his right under Georgia law.

Granting a speedy trial would significantly move up the calendar for a Fulton County prosecution and "moves Georgia to the front of the line," John Acevedo of Emory University School of Law said, making a reference to the other criminal cases against the former president.

There is a chance that all defendants could therefore be on trial in Georgia much sooner than expected.

Defendants like Chesebro could use the request for a speedy trial to force Willis's hand early, or as a strategy to peel themselves off from Trump and the larger case, Acevedo explained to BBC. But since Willis has taken two years to investigate, he believed the October date suggestion indicates she is prepared.

Barbara Plett Usher
North America correspondent

We are camped out across from the entrance to the Fulton County Jail.

It’s not the main one that’s used by visitors, and also by the other defendants in this sweeping case who’ve already turned themselves in. Access here is more restricted.

But we’re pretty sure this is where Donald Trump will “proudly be arrested,” as he put it earlier on social media.

We were able to drive up with our equipment this morning, but police have now closed down the entire street and some of my colleagues who arrived later have had to hike half a kilometre with theirs.

Earlier, a few Trump supporters drove up and down past the media, including a bus painted in “Donald Trump 2024” slogans. Now it’s only police cars on patrol.

But there are dozens of Trump fans gathered outside the public entrance, showing support as he's set to surrender on criminal charges for the fourth time in five months.

Trump is facing a busy schedule next year, with criminal trials in four different places (and a civil case on top of this) ahead of the 2024 US presidential election.

Here's a look at what awaits the former US president:

Image source, .

Madeline Halpert
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in today.

His initial brush with the local Georgia criminal justice system is expected to last just hours, but most other defendants are not so lucky.

The local sheriff, Pat Labat, has said that officials will follow "normal practices" when processing Trump.

But experts say he will probably have a very different experience from those who languish in the county's notoriously unsafe jail for weeks, months or even years while awaiting trial.

“He's not going to feel the full force of what an average person experiences in the Fulton County Jail when they've been charged with several felonies," says Rachel Kaufman, an Atlanta-based lawyer.

In the US, criminal defendants wait in a jail if they have been arrested, are awaiting trial without bail, or are serving a short sentence behind bars. Prisons are where criminals serve longer sentences after conviction.

Hundreds of people were held at Fulton County Jail for more than 90 days because they had yet to be formally charged or could not afford to pay the bail bond required for their release, according to a September 2022 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The report also found 117 people had waited in jail for more than a year because they had not been indicted, while 12 had been held for two years for the same reason.

Read more on this story here.