Last week, Donald Trump shared a baseless claim that he would be indicted on Tuesday, March 21, for alleged silent money payments to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels. That didn’t happen, but hilarious AI-generated footage visualizing the former president’s fantasies of being dragged away by police in front of cameras has been circulating on social media for the past few days. Originally posted by Eliot Higgins, the founder of the international research collaboration Bellingcat, the theatrical renders show Trump surrounded by officers attempting to detain and arrest him.
“Making pictures of Trump being arrested while awaiting arrest,” Higgins wrote in a Tweeter Monday. he later clarified that he created the images using the AI platform Midjourney. The post has gone viral, with 4.9 million views so far.
Trump had called for protests on his Truth Social social media platform on Saturday, March 18, alleging a leak from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. According to Associated press, the former president hoped to spark outrage among his supporters by writing “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST”. When Tuesday passed with news of muted reactions from Trump’s base but no word of an arrest, some wondered if the former president could still mobilize supporters as he did before the U.S. Capitol uprising on January 6, 2021.
Some on Twitter found humor in the historic moment: Trump is the first current or former US president to face criminal charges. Internet personality Hasan Piker, known as HasanAbi, dressed for the occasion in a plum suit and gold tie on Tuesday, post Higgins images next to a selfie mirror. User “Nick (@kra)” share a popular TikTok video of someone mimicking potential suicide attempts, apparently expressing collective frustration that the arrest never happened.
Despite the satirical tone online, according to an article by NBCthe local branch of News 4, the New York Police Department has tightened security measures, asking all officers to prepare for potential violence. The NYPD lined the perimeter of Trump Tower and Manhattan Criminal Court with barricades Monday night ahead of planned protests and monitored social media.
