Following a steady stream of high-profile Trump allies surrendering themselves to the Fulton County, Georgia justice system, claims that the only defendant not released that same day was the head of "Black Voices for Trump" went viral on social media:
The claim was true. Harrison Floyd, former director of a group named Black Voices for Trump, did not post bond after surrendering to Georgia authorities. He faces charges related to alleged efforts to intimidate election worker Ruby Freeman into making false statements.
As mandated by the Fulton County District Attorney, all 19 defendants in Georgia's election interference case against Donald Trump surrendered by Aug. 25, 2023. At the time of this reporting, the only person whose booking record did not indicate they had been released was Harrison Floyd, who posted a video to X, formerly known as Twitter, of himself driving to jail on Aug. 24, 2023 while listening to the Kanye West song "Jail":
Lord Protect Me While Im in These Streets #FultonCountyJail #IndictmentWatch pic.twitter.com/rKiu5coig3
— Harrison Floyd (@hw_floyd) August 24, 2023
Floyd allegedly worked with former Kanye West publicist Trevian Kutti and Georgia pastor Stephan Cliffgard Lee in an effort to intimidate election worker Ruby Freeman. As described in the Georgia indictment, Floyd was allegedly tapped for the role because he was Black:
On or between the 15th day of December 2020 and the 4th day of January 2021, Stephan Cliffgard Lee solicited Harrison William Prescott Floyd, an individual associated with the organization Black Voices for Trump, to assist with his effort to speak to Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County, Georgia , election worker. [Lee] stated to [Floyd] that Freeman was afraid to talk to [Lee] because he was a white man. [...]
On or about the 4th day of January 2021, Trevian C. Kutti traveled to a Cobb County Police Department precinct in Cobb County, Georgia, and met with and spoke to Ruby Freeman for approximately one hour. [Floyd] joined the meeting by telephone. [Kutti] and [Floyd] stated to Freeman that she needed protection and purported to offer her help. [...]
[Kutti, Floyd, and Lee] committed the felony offense of Solicitation of False Statements and Writings [...] by soliciting, requesting, and importuning Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker, to engage in conduct constituting the felony offense of False Statements and Writings.
It is unclear, presently, what issue or issues prevented Floyd from bonding out of jail. The Huffington Post reported that "Floyd remains jailed as of Friday afternoon due to not having a prearranged bond set like the others." Of the three, both Kutti, who is Black, and Lee posted bail and were released after surrendering.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, suggested that an arrest in May 2023 on Federal charges of assaulting an FBI agent could have played a role:
Earlier this year, he was charged and arrested in Maryland after allegedly attacking an FBI agent that was involved in the Justice Department's investigation to overturn the 2020 elections, The Washington Post reported. The previous arrest could have complicated Floyd being able to negotiate a bond agreement with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, which has not commented on the matter.
According to the federal complaint in that case, Floyd attacked an FBI agent attempting to subpoena him to appear before a Maryland grand jury convened as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the events surrounding the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. As summarized by Huffington Post:
Two agents attempted to hand Floyd the subpoena in person as he was returning to his Rockville home. The agents said they first called Floyd, whom they knew to be a retired Marine and professional MMA fighter, and spoke with him over the phone in a recorded conversation. They introduced themselves as federal agents and said they needed to serve him a federal grand jury subpoena. [...]
The FBI agents said Floyd refused to accept the subpoena while outside his apartment, and that he ignored one agent's display of their badge. An agent stuck the document in his front door as Floyd was closing it on them, according to the complaint. As the agents started to exit down a staircase, they say, they heard Floyd yelling from behind them. He then allegedly rushed down the stairs at them screaming obscenities.
Floyd allegedly struck one of the two agents in the chest, knocking them backward while yelling in their face. He allegedly backed away after the second agent flashed the firearm secured at their waist.
As part of his release from Federal custody in May 2023, prior to being indicted in Georgia, authorities mandated — among other things — that he avoid breaking any state or federal laws.
Because the only defendant arrested in the Georgia election interference case who was not immediately released from their custody was Harrison Floyd, and because he was the former director of Black Voices for Trump, the claim is True.