Prosecutor in Georgia election case against Trump and others seeks protections for jurors

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor who has brought charges accusing former President Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state is asking the judge in the case to take steps to protect jurors.

The preemptory step by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis comes after the grand jurors who last month returned the wide-ranging 41-count indictment against Trump and 18 others were harassed after their information was posted online.

It's a reflection of the highly polarised feelings surrounding the criminal cases against the former president.

Willis wrote in a motion filed Wednesday that the grand jurors' information was posted "with the intent to harass and intimidate them." Additionally, the motion said, Willis' personal information and that of her family and members of her staff have been posted online "intertwined with derogatory and racist remarks" about the district attorney, who is a Black woman.

News cameras are frequently allowed in the courtroom for trial proceedings in Georgia, but video and still photographers are regularly instructed not to show images of members of the jury. During the jury selection process, the prospective jurors are typically referred to by numbers rather than by name.

Willis is asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to prohibit defendants, members of the news media or anyone else from creating or publishing images — including video, photos and drawings — of jurors or prospective jurors.

She is also asking that the judge prohibit the publication of any information that would help anyone to identify them, "specifically physical descriptions, telephone numbers, addresses, employer names and membership affiliations of all jurors or prospective jurors."

Legal experts have said it's standard for indictments in Georgia to include the names of the grand jurors, in part because it provides defendants the opportunity to challenge the composition of the grand jury.

So the names of the 23 grand jurors who heard the district attorney's evidence against Trump and the others and voted to approve charges were included on the indictment.

They immediately became the victims of "doxxing," which is short for "dropping dox" or documents, and refers to the online posting of information about someone, generally in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge.

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