President Donald Trump suggested two Washington, D. C. , police officers may be released from prison after they were convicted of killing a 20-year-old person during an illicit police fight.
“They arrested the two officers ( Sutton and Zabavsky ) and put them in jail for going after a criminal. A hard criminal, by the way, ” Trump said in a demo of the purchase. “And I’m basically releasing [them]. I am the friend of officers, more than any leader that ’s ever been in this business. ”
The case in question occurred in October 2020, near the peak of that year’s Black Lives Matter protest activity. The affair began when Sutton attempted to speak with 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown, who subsequently fled from him on an electric scooter. A three-minute fight ensued, which ended in a crash that led to Hylton-Brown’s suicide.
The event sparked demonstrations in the nation’s money ahead of the vote. Sutton was afterwards convicted in September 2024 of second-degree death and sentenced to 5. 5 years in prison, while Zabavsky got four years for his part in the event. It was the first day a Washington police agent had ever been convicted of murder.
Police officers strongly defended both people during the test, and the DC Police Union released a speech saying it was working with Trump on the clemency.
“We are constantly working with the White House and President Trump to target two looking miscarriages of justice involving DC authorities soldiers, Officer Terrance Sutton and Lieutenant Andrew Zabavsky, who were wrongly convicted of murder, ” says the declaration, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “These officials — men of integrity and passion — were targeted by crooked prosecutors who weaponized the legal structure against them. ”
However, the same speech accuses Trump’s forgive of Jan. 6 defendants, expressing “dismay ” for those who assaulted police officers during the Capitol riot.
David Shurtz, an counsel for Hylton-Brown’s home, said Trump was misinformed about the situation.
“A judge of Sutton’s and Zabavsky’s classmates listened to all the information and found Officer Sutton innocent of second-degree death and Sutton and Zabavsky guilty of obstruction of justice and crime, ” he said. “Last occasion I checked, courts were supposed to determine guilt or innocence. ”
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He said the leader is simply listening to one side of the story, especially that of the Fraternal Order of Authorities.
“Trump is being given negative information by a corrupt police department, ” he said. “ But Trump may understand better that people who hear the proof are better triers of information than democratic tricks. ”
