The two officers found guilty in the motorist death of Karon Hylton-Brown, 20, received “full and unconditional” pardons from the president.
Advocates are slamming President Donald Trump‘s decision to issue pardons for two D.C. police officers who were convicted in the death and subsequent coverup of a Black motorist.
“President Trump’s first-week pardons make it clear he has no respect for democracy or the rule of law in DC or anywhere else,” said Markus Batchelor, a former D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) Commissioner and national political director at People For the American Way.
Andrew Zabavsky and Terence Sutton received “full and unconditional” pardons from Trump on Wednesday, something the 47th president previewed a day earlier during a White House press conference. The president falsely claimed the officers were convicted for “going after an illegal,” who he described as a “rough criminal.”
Zabavsky and Sutton, collectively, were found guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct, and obstruction of justice for their 2020 encounter with unarmed 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown. Sutton was sentenced to 66 months in prison, while Zabavsky was sentenced to 48 months. However, they were out on bail pending an appeal.
On Oct. 23, Hylton-Brown was struck by another motorist during a police chase while riding a moped. The officers pursued Hylton-Brown after spotting him riding on the sidewalk without a helmet. Police claimed that Hylton-Brown, who was unarmed, ignored Officer Sutton’s attempt to stop and drove off.
According to a memo from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, the officers chased Hylton-Brown through neighborhood streets at “unreasonable speeds” and, at one point, drove the wrong way on a one-way street. Officer Sutton, who was driving the police vehicle, followed Hylton-Brown into a narrow alley and turned off the emergency lights and siren before he accelerated behind Hylton-Brown’s moped. Moments later, Hylton-Brown was struck by an oncoming motorist.
“As Mr. Hylton-Brown lay unconscious in the street in a pool of his own blood, Sutton and Zabavsky, agreed to cover up what Sutton had done to prevent any further investigation of the incident,” according to the Justice Department memo. “Neither Sutton, as the lead officer at the scene, nor Zabavsky, the ranking MPD official, preserved the crash scene for investigators; they allowed the driver of the car that struck Hylton-Brown to leave the scene within 20 minutes of the crash.”
The two officers also turned off their own body cameras in order to discuss their plan privately. Both also failed to contact MPD’s Major Crash Unit (MCU) or its Internal Affairs Division (IAD) to initiate an investigation by those units.
Batchelor said the president’s decision to pardon Sutton and Zabavsky illustrates his “core values are criminality, corruption, and cruelty.”
He told theGrio, “He’s consistently rewarded it in those around him for his singular benefit. Denying a family and community due process in a case alleging murder and abuse of power by those sworn to protect them — all to send a hollow, hypocritical political message — is appalling, yet unsurprising.”
The advocate said the executive pardons from the nascent second Trump administration “make clear Trump has the people of D.C. squarely in his crosshairs.”
“As he said he would be, Trump’s intent on attacking our courts, overturning our laws, upending our values, and running local DC in his national image,” he added. “Once again, the safety and security of everyday Washingtonians is at risk under a Trump presidency.”
Jamal Holtz, president of DC Young Democrats, told theGrio that the pardons of Sutton and Zabavsky “sends a troubling message that undermines faith in our justice system and the principle of accountability.”
“Despite prosecutors proving obstruction in this case, the decision disregards the core values of justice and fairness,” said Holtz. He continued, “This act not only erodes trust in the legal process but also sets a dangerous precedent, leaving communities to grapple with the implications of what unchecked accountability could mean for public safety and equity. It is a stain on the pursuit of justice and a reminder of the urgent need to uphold transparency and integrity in our institutions.”
In a statement acknowledging President Trump’s pardons, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser noted that the Metropolitan Police Department “long believed that the unfortunate loss of life caused by this police pursuit was best addressed in MPD’s administrative processes not a criminal one.” She added, “We nonetheless accepted the jury verdicts. We continue to focus on training and discipline to hold our officers accountable to department policy and district law related to pursuits while keeping our community safe from violent offenders.”
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