Fact Check: Are these images of Trump's arraignment real?

Several images of former US president, Donald Trump have gone viral following his arraignment in New York at the Manhattan courthouse where he pleaded 'not guilty' to 34 felony counts.

The case relates to hush money payments Trump made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 elections. Trump has been accused of paying two women to suppress their accounts of sexual encounters with him.

On April 5, Trump surrendered and was placed under arrest before he was arraigned. Shortly afterward, Trump returned to Florida from where he addressed his supporters.

While Trump was fingerprinted as part of the booking process, his mug shot was not taken.

Trump's 2024 presidential campaign sent out a fundraising email with a fake mug shot, offering a "NOT GUILTY" T-shirt with the fake mug shot in exchange for $47 contribution.

"Trump was fingerprinted a person familiar with events saiScreenshot 2023-04-06 at 12.10.12 PM.pngScreenshot 2023-04-06 at 12.10.21 PM.pngScreenshot 2023-04-06 at 12.10.30 PM.pngd but not mugshotted. But people fundraising in his name aren't wasting the opportunity and made their own mugshot, as this email that just landed shows," said New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman in a tweet.

The developments also led to several persons created AI-generated photos of Trump and shared the same on the social media. Twitter user, Nathalie Jacoby tweeted a fake mug shot showing Trump in a black T-shirt with the caption, " on a level from 1-10 how happy are you that Trump has been arrested?"

Another Twitter user shared a fake mug-shot with Trump in an orange jumpsuit. Trump's son Eric Trump[ also shared an AI-generated photo in which the former president can be seen walking on the street with a huge crowd of people behind him. He captioned it, "one of a kind." This photo has been shared multiple times by Trump's followers.

AI-generated images have been going viral these days. Earlier Eliot Higgins the founder of open-sources investigations website Bellingcat used AI-generated images of Trump showing what could happen before he is arrested. He shared 50 different AI-generated photos before the arraignment and these images are going viral again now. Higgins later said that he had generated these images using AI-technology.

Hence it is clear that the images in circulation with the claim that a mug shot of Trump was taken post his arraignment are fake and AI-generated.