Bond hearing set for Black Voices for Trump director

Booking shot of Harrison Floyd at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24, 2023. (Fulton County Sheriff's Office)

Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office

Booking shot of Harrison Floyd at the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24, 2023. (Fulton County Sheriff's Office)

Harrison Floyd, the only one of the 19 people arrested for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia who is still in jail, will get a hearing later this week to set conditions for his release.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set a Thursday hearing to determine Floyd’s bond on five felony counts involving the alleged harassment of county elections worker Ruby Freeman. Floyd is accused of working with co-defendants Stephen Lee and Trevian Kutti to pressure Freeman to “reveal information under the threat of incarceration if she did not comply,” according to the indictment.

Floyd surrendered at the Fulton County Jail Thursday and was the only defendant in the case not to have a bond agreement in place prior to his arrest.

In a hearing Friday, Judge Emily Richardson told Floyd he would have to wait to see McAfee, who is assigned to try the case, before being granted bond. Nonetheless, Richardson denied bond for Floyd, citing his arrest earlier this year in Maryland when he allegedly charged an FBI agent who had attempted to serve him with a grand jury subpoena in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

Richardson said Floyd, a former Marine and martial arts instructor, was a flight risk and a risk to commit further crimes if released. In the hearing, Floyd disagreed and pointed out that he voluntarily turned himself in.

“I’m already on federal pre-trial supervision,” Floyd said. “I’ve had no issue with being on pre-trial supervision, there is no way I’m a flight risk, I showed up here before the president was here.”

Floyd, who appeared in court Friday via teleconference from the jail, said he did not have an attorney. He said he had been denied a public defender but could not afford the massive fees required to hire a lawyer for a complex, high-profile racketeering case. In an order Monday, McAfee agreed to appoint a public defender to represent Floyd for the time being.

“The Court reserves the question of whether Mr. Floyd will be ordered to reimburse Fulton County for these services,” McAfee wrote.