Just two days after pardoning more than 1,500 criminals responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, President Donald Trump approved two more pardons for white officers connected to the killing of Karon Hylton-Brown in Washington, D.C.
Trump announced his plans to pardon Officer Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky earlier this week, and on Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025, he made good on his promise. “They were arrested, put in jail for five years, because they went after an illegal,” Trump falsely claimed right before the announcement. “I am the friend of police more than any president that has ever been,” he continued.
When Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, got news of the pardon announcement, she told CNN she was shocked and started crying. “Do not pardon these murderers,” Hylton begged. The mother revealed she sent Trump a formal letter. “I’m asking him, do not pardon them.”
Sutton and Zabavsky were convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice, according to Politico. Sutton was also found guilty of second degree murder in Hylton-Brown’s death.
In September 2024, both officers were sentenced to a combined nine and a half years behind bars for attempting to cover up Hylton-Brown’s killing, according to Fox DC. The 20-year-old victim was killed in November 2020 after a police pursuit led to him crashing his moped into an SUV, according to CNN. At the time of the fatal crash, Hylton-Brown was not wearing a helmet, reports say.
It was then that Sutton and Zabavsky turned off their body cameras, tampered with the crime scene and lied to their commanding officers about details of the incident, according to court documents. Despite their convictions, both men remained free on appeal four years after the killing.
Following their sentencing, US Attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement, “Public safety requires public trust.” He continued, “Crimes like this erode that trust and are a disservice to the community and the thousands of officers who work incredibly hard, within the bounds of the Constitution, to keep us safe.”
Now, the former officers have been officially cleared of any wrongdoing. Zabavsky’s attorney, Christopher Zampogna, thanked the president after the announcement. “We’re very grateful to [Trump] for doing it,” Zampogna said according to CNN.
Sutton told CNN with a clean slate, he has plans to get his job back. “I want to go back to the police department and finish my career,” Sutton said, although he admits he doesn’t know if it would be possible.