Tag: Officers

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump granted full pardons Wednesday for two D.C. Police officers convicted in the chase that killed 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown in 2020.

The pardons for Officer Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky were posted Wednesday evening on the White House website. Both men were sentenced to prison by a federal judge last year but were allowed to remain free on bond pending appeal.

Trump had signaled earlier in the week the pardons were coming. Speaking to reporters at the White House during a press event Tuesday about AI-related infrastructure investments, Trump was asked if his decision to pardon, commute or dismiss the cases of more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants sent the message that it was OK to assault police.

“No, the opposite. In fact, I’m going to be letting two officers from Washington police D.C., I believe they’re from D.C., but I just approved it,” Trump said. “They were arrested, put in jail for five years, because they went after an illegal and I guess something happened where something went wrong and they arrested the two officers and put them in jail for going after a criminal. A rough criminal, by the way. And I’m actually releasing… no I’m the friend, I am the friend of police more than any president who’s ever been in this office.”

Trump’s decision to pardon the two officers drew immediate and mixed reaction Wednesday night.

On the social media site Bluesky, D.C. Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, whose district includes the Brightwood Park neighborhood where the crash occurred, said she was “devastated” by the news.

“The officers convicted in this case were found guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice by a unanimous jury of their peers,” George wrote. “The decision to potentially pardon their crimes puts political agenda above the integrity of our justice system and deepens the wounds of our community. Decisions like this make our communities less safe and send a dangerous message that justice can be undermined.”

The DC Police Union, which earlier this week described Trump’s decision to pardon Jan. 6 defendants convicted of assaulting officers as a “disappointment,” immediately hailed the pardons of Sutton and Zabavsky on social media.

“Officer Sutton was wrongly charged by corrupt prosecutors for doing his job,” the union wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This action rights an incredible wrong that not only harmed Officer Sutton, but also crippled the ability for the department to function.”

Throughout the case, Sutton’s attorneys argued a judge had wrongly barred them from showing a jury evidence of Hylton-Brown’s alleged affiliation with the Kennedy Street Crew gang. On Wednesday, attorney Kellen S. Dwyer, a partner at the law firm Alston & Bird who has been representing Sutton in his appeal, told WUSA9 on Wednesday Trump’s pardon fixed that error:

“Today, President Trump corrected a grave injustice. Officer Sutton was charged with murder because he followed a suspect who fled a lawful police stop and was struck by a third-party vehicle. Sutton was acting on reporting from a fellow officer that the suspect had gotten into an altercation with another suspected gang member earlier that day and appeared to be driving around ‘looking for someone.’ Yet, at trial, Sutton was not allowed to even argue that his actions were authorized and justified by his duty to enforce the law. And the trial judge excluded the suspect’s criminal history (which included 21 prior arrests, including for gun possession, armed-robbery, and drug-dealing), his gang affiliation, and the fact that he had $3,128 taped to his legs at the time of the accident. Most egregiously, the prosecutor weaponized this ruling by falsely telling the jury that the suspect ‘wasn’t doing a damn thing wrong’ and that Sutton chased him ‘for simply minding his own business.’ While we are confident that the D.C. Circuit would have reversed this conviction, we are thrilled that President Trump ended this prosecution once and for all.”

Christopher Zampogna, who represented Zabavsky at trial and in his appeal, sent WUSA9 a brief statement Wednesday night saying the officer thanked Trump for the pardon.

Sutton, 40, was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2024 nearly two years after a jury found he’d recklessly chased Hylton-Brown through the Brightwood Park neighborhood and attempted to cover up the fatal crash that followed. Hylton-Brown was killed in 2020 when he pulled his electric moped into oncoming traffic while fleeing from Sutton, who had attempted to stop him for riding on the sidewalk and without a helmet. The chase lasted for three minutes across 10 city blocks – with Sutton at times going the wrong way on city streets and accelerating to twice the residential speed limit. The pursuit violated the department’s policy, which prohibited officers from chasing suspects for minor traffic offenses.

Zabavsky, who was not charged with murder, was convicted of attempting to help Sutton cover up the crash and was sentenced in September 2024 to four years in prison.

The sentences, which were far below what prosecutors had sought, enraged Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton.  

“How can you not put value on my child’s life?” Hylton told WUSA9 outside of court following the sentencing, adding that the judge “sat there, he scold[ed] them, he knew they were wrong.”  

“If this was reversed, if this was a Black man, he would’ve — he would’ve been locked up,” Hylton said.

Hylton-Brown’s death, which came just months after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, sparked days of protests outside the DC Police Department’s Fourth District headquarters and ultimately launched a federal civil rights investigation. The eventual criminal case filed by federal prosecutors marked the first time a DC Police officer was charged with murder in the department’s history.

From the moment the case was filed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office faced criticism from rank-and-file officers and law enforcement leaders about the unprecedented decision to charge an officer with murder where no physical contact was made and no force was used. For two days prior to his sentencing, Sutton’s attorneys called dozens of current and former officers to testify on his behalf. Among them was former DC Police Chief Peter Newsham, now chief in Prince William County, Virginia, who said police officials around the country had told him they were “dumbfounded” by the case. Newsham, who was chief in D.C. during the civil unrest following George Floyd’s death, said he believed the case was politically motivated.

“It is my opinion that had this case not occurred on the heels of the George Floyd murder, these officers would not be facing decades of jail time,” Newsham said.

Federal prosecutors sought 18 years in prison for Sutton and repeatedly pushed back on the outpouring of criticism from law enforcement, saying it only showed the heightened need for deterrence. But they were ultimately unable to convince the judge who presided over the case. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman described the guidelines range Sutton faced as “ridiculous” and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison – less than a third of the time the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought.

Attempts to reach Hylton-Brown’s mother for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.