Potential Juror Dismissed After Trump’s Legal Team Finds ‘Lock Him Up’ Posts on Social Media
As day two of former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial continued, attorneys for the former president had a potential juror dismissed after they found posts calling for Trump to be put in jail.
As New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Trump’s attorneys, and prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office continued the process of questioning potential jurors about posts made to social media, and their private lives, Trump’s legal team had a juror dismissed over a post about Trump, calling to “lock him up.” Another social media post from the same juror reportedly said, “Get him out.”
The first seven jurors, who will sit on a 12-person bench, were selected.
The Associated Press (AP) writes:
Over two days, dozens of potential jurors have been excused after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments. Trump’s lawyers challenged a handful of people over social media posts, and one person was dismissed over a 2017 post about Trump that said “Lock him up!”
Merchan reportedly acknowledged that the quote about locking Trump up was not good and he did not think he could let the potential juror “remain” in the trial, according to the Daily Mail.
In this courtroom sketch, former U.S. President Donald Trump sits with his attorney Todd Blanche before Justice Juan Merchan, at the beginning of his trial at a Manhattan criminal court in New York, Monday, April 15, 2024. (Jane Rosenberg/Pool Photo via AP)
“Everyone knows if Mr. Trump is found guilty in this case, there’s a potential jail sentence which would be lock up,” Merchan said.
On the first day, out of 96 potential jurors, more than 50 were dismissed after indicating they were unable to be impartial.
Other potential jurors who made it to day two of the trial included one person who had reportedly posted on social media saying, “Republicans projected to pick up 70 seats in prison.” This potential juror was also not selected.
Another potential juror had posted a parody video on March 27, featuring Trump with the words, “I’m dumb as f*ck.” This juror was also dismissed.
In April 2023, Braggs charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree related to payments he made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
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