Before liberals cheered Fulton County jail booking of Trump, they decried its deplorable conditions

Before liberals cheered Donald Trump‘s booking at the Fulton County Jail this month, they were decrying the facility’s deplorable conditions that have led to numerous deaths and an ongoing federal civil rights investigation.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office in Atlanta announced last week that a 66-year-old inmate named Alexander Hawkins was found unresponsive in a medical unit cell before being pronounced dead.

"Medical personnel were unsuccessful at attempts to revive Hawkins and he died," the sheriff’s department said.

It was the third death this month in the jail and the seventh since the beginning of the year, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

Two other inmates who passed away this month include Christopher Smith and Montay Stinson. Smith was found unresponsive in a medical unit cell on Aug. 10 and passed away at a hospital on Aug. 11.

Stinson was also found unresponsive in his cell on July 31, at around 11:45 p.m. According to a release from the sheriff's department, he was found with "no obvious signs of injury."

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the conditions of the jail to determine if any rights of prisoners were being violated. 

The DOJ said there were credible allegations that “Fulton County Jail is structurally unsafe, that prevalent violence has resulted in serious injuries and homicides, and that officers are being prosecuted for using excessive force.” 

“People in prisons and jails are entitled to basic protections of their civil rights,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement. “We launched this investigation into the Fulton County Jail based on serious allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions at the jail, excessive force and violence within the jail, discrimination against incarcerated individuals with mental health issues, and failure to provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals."

"During this comprehensive review of the conditions of confinement at the Fulton County Jail, the Justice Department will determine whether systemic violations of federal laws exist, and if so, how to correct them," he continued. 

Fulton County officials and the Fulton County Sheriff have said they would cooperate with the investigation.

The conditions and overcrowding at the jail have long been notorious, generating concerns among liberal civil rights activists that reached a crescendo just weeks before Trump’s booking on Thursday.

“Since the beginning of 2022, at least 18 people have died in Fulton County’s custody that we know of. These tragic deaths are not just unacceptable, they were preventable,” the ACLU wrote on Aug. 3.

”While much of the blame for unlivable jail conditions in Atlanta has rightly been placed with the local Sheriff’s office and those who oversee the facility, numerous elected officials in Fulton County are equally if not more responsible for the conditions in the jail,” it added.

The Fulton County Jail in Atlanta is where former President Trump and his 18 co-defendants had to surrender on felony charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in the state.