Trump pardons two police officers convicted of killing a black man in Washington By Reuters
Written by Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned two Washington police officers convicted of killing 20-year-old black man Karon Hylton-Brown in 2020, the White House said.
In September 2024, Terence Sutton Jr was sentenced to 66 months in prison and Andrew Zabavsky was sentenced to 48 months in prison for “unauthorized police action resulting in a collision on October 23, 2020, which resulted in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown, 20, of Northwest Washington DC, ”said the Ministry of Justice last year. The police remain free pending the results of their complaints.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Sutton, who is in his early 40s, and Zabavsky, who is in his mid-50s, “have been temporarily suspended without pay, pending our administrative process.”
Sutton was found guilty by a unanimous federal jury in late 2022, after a nine-week trial, of murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice. The same jury found Zabavsky guilty of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruct justice.
Jurors found that Sutton caused Hylton-Brown’s death by driving the police car “recklessly” at the risk of death or serious bodily injury to Hylton-Brown.
It also found that Sutton and Zabavsky conspired to conceal from officials the circumstances of the traffic accident that led to Hylton-Brown’s death.
The DC Police Union asked for amnesty for the two officers.
Sutton’s attorney, Kellen Dwyer, in a statement cited by CNN said that while he and his client “were confident that the DC Circuit would have overturned this conviction, we are pleased that President Trump has ended this prosecution.” Zabavsky’s lawyer, Christopher Zampogna, also thanked Trump.
Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, told CNN before the announcement that she was shocked and cried when she heard about the possible pardon.
The incident occurred months after the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. That killing led to protests against police brutality and racial inequality in the US and around the world.
After taking office on Monday, Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago on Jan. 6, 2021. Among those pardoned are those who harassed the police.
The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the US that endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police in a joint statement said they were “deeply disappointed” by the pardons.
