*An online miscaptioned photo of an Indiana police commander is generating headlines, with it supposedly identifying the officer as former President Donald Trump’s probation officer.
According to Reuters, the social media post referenced Trump’s historic May 30 conviction on criminal charges by a New York jury. The conviction came after the presumptive GOP presidential nominee was found guilty of falsifying business records. Trump, who is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, has vowed to appeal the conviction.
The miscaptioned post appeared June 2, showing a police offer in the photo, with the text reading, “Meet: Rohondra Williams Trumps Probation Officer.” A uniform badge indicating the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) is seen in the lower right of the photo.
Although the caption identifies, the officer as Rohondra Williams, the department’s spokesperson Amanda Hibschman, confirmed the lady in the picture was Nikole Pilkington, the Southwest District commander of the IMPD. Hibschman went on to state in an email that the department was aware of the miscaptioned photo circulating online.
“No IMPD officer nor Commander Pilkington has had any involvement in the New York Trump case or has been assigned as a probation officer in this case,” Hibschman said.
Reuters noted an identical photo of Pilkington is visible in a March 2022 article on the e-newsletter, the Community Policing Dispatch, followed by another photo of the commander seen in a February 2024 media advisory, and in a post on X (formerly Twitter) the same month, regarding her new appointment by the department.
Prior to sentencing, a probation officer interviews the defendant to compile a pre-sentence report the judge uses to help decide the punishment for the crime, according to Reuters, per the New York State Unified Court System’s website. Those without criminal histories, like Trump, are rarely sentenced to prison in New York for the crime of falsifying business records, with fines or probation being more common.
At the time of Reuter’s report, there was no publicly available evidence that a probation officer has been assigned to Trump. Neither a spokesperson for Trump nor spokespeople for the New York State Unified Court System and the New York City Department of Probation have commented on the miscaptioned picture.
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