Trump Supporter Tries to Get Fani Willis Arrested

A Georgia Trump supporter is trying to use an obscure law to get Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrested for her office's efforts to try the former president for his alleged effort to overturn the result of his 2020 election loss.

Whether he's legally allowed to do so is another question.

Interviewed by the right-wing outlet, the Post Millennial, outside of the Fulton County courthouse ahead of Trump's anticipated arrest August 24, Brad Barnes—a failed candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives last fall—said he was filing an application for a warrant to arrest Willis for a number of state and federal crimes tied to her prosecution of the former president.

The charges he sought included allegations of a violation of oath by a public officer and unprofessional conduct by a public officer under Georgia state law as well as federal charges of a conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under the color of law—all of which he claimed were violated in her effort to try Trump and his associates on allegations of coercing Georgia state elections officials to overturn the election.

In legal filings, Trump and his 17 co-defendants have held that Trump truly believed the election he'd lost was stolen, and that his associates were operating in an official capacity when they sought to act on those beliefs, which they've maintained was a protected right under federal law.

Willis, meanwhile, has argued the Trump campaign sought to undermine Georgia's election process, interfering with the independence of the state's election officers in an effort to invalidate the votes of the more than 11,000 Georgians who voted for someone else.

Barnes, it appeared, agreed with the former.

"It's very clear that she is using her public office to prosecute a political grudge," said Barnes. "And actions such as charging warriors for filing legal paperwork and representation of their clients, for example, is a clear violation of the defendants like Mr. Trump's right to redress of grievances under the First Amendment."

Whether he's able to have Willis arrested for litigating those claims in court, however, is another story.

Under Georgia state law, an individual can apply to have someone arrested if there has been some harm or injustice done to them. However to do so, they must first file a police report (it is unclear whether Barnes has done so) and then, undergo a legal hearing process where a judge then evaluates whether there is a justifiable cause to have that individual arrested.

And in Georgia, that's a very high threshold.

"You can't just go to the courthouse and 'swear out a warrant,'" an issue explainer by the Taliaferro County Sheriff's Office explains on its website. "Arrest warrants are not issued to 'teach someone a lesson' or to 'get him away from me.' Arrest warrants are issued because someone committed a criminal act that justifies arrest and incarceration."

To even have the opportunity to make that case, Barnes would have to go to the very top of the food chain in order for Willis to be arrested.

According to Georgia state statute, any warrant for the arrest of a peace officer, law enforcement officer, DFCS case manager, teacher, or school administrator for any offense alleged to have been committed while in the performance of his or her duties may be issued "only by a judge of a superior court, a judge of a state court, or a judge of a probate court."

That said, to be successful he would also need standing in the case. And Barnes—a "successful small business owner and software engineer" who has no official role in the Georgia Republican Party, the Georgia House of Representatives, the Trump campaign, or seemingly any real position to speak of that would be germane to Willis' prosecution—likely lacks it.

Newsweek has reached out to Barnes via Facebook messenger for additional comment.