Trump Should Pardon D.C.’s Good Cops Victimized By DOJ
The text advocates for immediate pardons for two D.C. police officers,Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky,following their convictions connected to fatal incidents involving suspects. Sutton, a 13-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, received a five-year sentence after a gang member died during a police pursuit. Zabavsky was sentenced to four years for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The author argues that these pardons would signal a supportive stance towards law enforcement from the incoming Trump administration and encourage officers to combat violent crime without fear of legal repercussions from progressive prosecutors.
The commentary highlights the increase in violence and crime in Washington, D.C., including a significant rise in murder rates and armed carjackings during Joe Biden’s presidency, narrowly framing the Justice Department’s response as inadequate. The narrative centers on Sutton’s case, detailing the events leading up to the death of Karon Hylton-Brown, who fled police in an electric moped and was ultimately killed in a crash.The piece asserts that Sutton,who did not physically engage with Hylton-Brown,faced unreasonable prosecution despite the victim’s own unlawful actions. The discussion implies a need for reforms in the treatment of police officers and the legal system surrounding their actions in the line of duty.
On day one, President Donald Trump’s administration should issue immediate pardons to Washington, D.C., Police Officers Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky.
Sutton, a black, 13-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was sentenced to jail for five years because a gang member died trying to escape police. Zabavsky was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice, receiving a four-year sentence.
A pardon would send the message that changes are coming to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office and that the incoming Trump administration backs the blue. In turn, MPD officers will focus on fighting violent criminals without being worried that some progressive prosecutor will view them as the defendant.
Joe Biden’s Justice Department presided over D.C.’s deadliest year in more than two decades. According to crime data, 274 people were murdered in our nation’s capital, many of whom were innocent children. Compared to other large cities, D.C. had the fifth-highest murder rate. Armed carjackings, one of the most violent crimes imaginable, nearly doubled from the previous year. The city that loudly championed defunding the police was forced to quietly pass emergency pro-law enforcement legislation in the face of a skyrocketing epidemic of violent crime.
What has America’s largest U.S. attorney’s office done to respond to this violent outbreak?
Short answer: not much.
In Sutton’s case, after a nine-week jury trial in D.C. in December 2022, the U.S. attorney’s office made the incomprehensible decision to prosecute Sutton for second-degree murder. It recommended an 18-year prison sentence.
Sutton’s Case
On October 23, 2020, Sutton (“the defendant,” according to the DOJ) was on routine patrol on Kennedy Street, N.W. That night, a female MPD official informed Sutton that she observed Karon Hylton-Brown (“the victim,” according to the DOJ) in an altercation earlier that day and was concerned Hylton-Brown would return with a gun to finish the fight.
Moments later, Sutton and three other members of MPD observed Hylton-Brown riding an electric moped and tried to speak with him to ensure he did not have a firearm. Hylton-Brown refused to stop and instead drove through a red light, which caused an oncoming car to have to stop to avoid hitting him. For the next three minutes, law enforcement pursued Hylton-Brown. During that time, he blew past stop signs, drove the wrong way on one-way streets, and committed other traffic offenses. Another officer observed Hylton-Brown “blading” his body, a tactic in which criminals turn their body to hide their firearms. Ultimately, Hylton-Brown failed to yield the right of way and was killed by an oncoming vehicle.
Sutton never made physical contact with Hylton-Brown. Moreover, Hylton-Brown fled police, committed numerous traffic infractions, appeared to be holding a firearm, and may have been intoxicated. Yet the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Sutton with second-degree murder.
The assistant U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case, Risa Berkower and Ahmed Muktadir Baset — who referred to alleged gang member Hylton-Brown as “not very dangerous” — hysterically accused Sutton of killing Hylton-Brown “in cold blood.” Berkower was a member of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights group in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office. The section’s purported mission is to prosecute fraud and corruption. In reality, it serves to satisfy the whims of the political left. It should be reassigned to fight violent crime.
Double Standard
This is the same attorney’s office that used thousands of taxpayer dollars to prosecute two of President Trump’s closest allies — Steven Bannon and Peter Navarro — and seek six months of federal incarceration for both. The same group that sent four prosecutors, including Berkower, the prosecutor from the Sutton case, to Jack Smith’s failed special counsel team. This “elite” group of prosecutors has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.
Even after securing a quick conviction of Sutton, the DOJ was not satisfied. At sentencing, the same Jack Smith acolyte asked that Sutton serve 18 years in prison — a sentence higher than what convicted murderers routinely receive in D.C. courts. Ultimately, even leftist D.C. Judge Paul Friedman found the recommendation too much, deciding on five years of incarceration for Sutton, a sentence he’s currently serving.
Years and years of taxpayer money funded the prosecution of a police officer while the DOJ watched D.C. burn to the ground.
Who Is Harmed?
The city is owed better. Our nation’s capital is rife with gangs, carjackings, and shootings. The criminal justice system is so backlogged that trials for murders and rapes are often delayed for years, denying justice to victims and their families while greatly reducing the likelihood of conviction.
Rather than focus on violent crime, corrupt prosecutors prefer to grab the low-hanging fruit of prosecuting cops for an all-too happy leftist audience.
After all, who benefits from the conviction of Sutton? Not the people who live on Kennedy Street. Those residents — a majority are black — are subject to indescribable violence and crime on a daily basis. This pathetic prosecution incentivizes law enforcement to look the other way and not pursue criminals they know are armed and dangerous. The only people who benefit are publicity-seeking prosecutors who want fame for their roles as progressive prosecutors. They win and the residents of Washington lose.
A letter written in support of Sutton at his sentencing aptly summarizes the current environment in D.C. “The community is suffering. The drug dealers, violent offenders, and other nefarious characters feel emboldened to operate with impunity. Every day is a zero-consequence holiday for them. For the community they feed off of and terrorize, it’s another day of fear and pain.”
Change is coming. Beginning on January 20, 2025, the four-year, zero-consequences nightmare is over. The violent crime terrorists and their political enablers should be on notice.
Mike Davis is the founder and president of the Article III Project.
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