Georgia judge declines to jail Trump co-defendant before trial

The prosecution wanted Harrison Floyd’s bail revoked over social media posts he made as the head of Black Voices for Trump.

Floyd technically violated his bond, but the deal should be modified, according to Judge Scott McAfee.

There are 19 defendants in the case, including Mr Floyd and the former president of the United States.

Georgia judge declines to jail Trump co-defendant before trial Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County said Tuesday that Mr Floyd’s bond agreement should reflect “nuances of social media”.

According to him, “I think the ultimate result of today’s hearing is that the bond needs to be modified.”

Defendants argued that prosecutors were attempting to silence Mr Floyd, 39. Their client would be willing to “tone it down” if the judge asked him to do so.

After his arrest in August, he was initially jailed, but he was released after five days when a judge granted bail.

In court on Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued that Mr Floyd’s tweets violated his bail bond and that he should be sent back to jail.

Those witnesses are being treated unfairly, Ms Willis said. There are real consequences to allowing defendants to intimidate witnesses.”

In one social media post, Mr Floyd directly mentioned individuals related to the case, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, his office’s chief operating officer Gabe Sterling and Fulton County worker Ruby Freeman, saying they were “the pieces of [poo emoji] “you should be mad at”.

“Renewed threats of violence” have been made against Ms Freeman as a result of Mr Floyd’s posts, Ms Willis said.

She and her daughter, Shaye Moss, another poll worker, hired someone to monitor threats against them online, according to Von DuBose, a lawyer for Freeman.