Trump Pardons Dirty Cops, Flips the Bird at Justice
source: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/trump-pardon-dc-police-murder-cover-up-rcna189142
Press Release from DOJ: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/two-mpd-officers-sentenced-2020-murder-karon-hylton-brown-and-subsequent-coverup
Oh, great. Trump’s done it again. Like a toddler with a Sharpie, he’s scribbling all over the rule of law, this time with a pair of pardons that scream, “I don’t give a shit about justice.” The lucky winners? Two D.C. cops, Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, convicted of covering up a deadly high-speed chase that killed Karon Hylton-Brown, a 20-year-old Black man, in 2020.
If you thought the January 6th pardons were bad (spoiler: they were), this is Trump doubling down on his all-you-can-pardon buffet for the worst people on Earth. These officers didn’t just “make a mistake” or “act in the line of duty.” No, they ran a kid down, lied about it, and then went full Hollywood villain by turning off their body cams, fabricating reports, and pretending it was all fine. And for that? Trump gives them a free pass like they just won a game show.
Deadly Chase, Big Cover-Up
Here’s the rundown: Back in October 2020, Sutton decided it was a great idea to chase Hylton-Brown through D.C. streets at insane speeds, all because the guy didn’t have a helmet on his moped. Let’s pause for a second—a helmet. For that, Sutton violated every police procedure known to man, pushed Hylton-Brown into oncoming traffic, and watched as he got smashed by a car.
But wait, it gets worse. As Hylton-Brown lay dying in a pool of his own blood, Sutton and his buddy Zabavsky got to work on their cover-up. They let the driver who hit him leave the scene, crushed evidence by driving over it, turned off their body cams, and filed fake reports. If that’s “just doing their job,” then I guess Jeffrey Dahmer was just cooking dinner.
Trump’s Excuse? Garbage.
And here comes Trump, strutting in like a reality TV judge, to call this whole circus a miscarriage of justice. “They went after an illegal,” he said, tossing in a casual lie about Hylton-Brown being undocumented (he was a U.S. citizen, by the way) because facts are for losers.
This is the same guy who pardoned over 1,500 January 6th rioters—people who beat cops, smashed windows, and tried to overthrow democracy. Now he’s pardoning cops who kill civilians and lie about it. If irony had a physical form, it’d be curled up in the corner crying right now.
A License to Kill
Let’s not sugarcoat this: Trump just handed every dirty cop in America a golden ticket to do whatever the hell they want. Kill someone? No problem. Cover it up? Even better. As long as you’re on Team Trump, you’re untouchable.
This isn’t just eroding the rule of law—it’s taking a flamethrower to it. Police accountability, already hanging on by a thread, just got its ass kicked. And for what? To feed Trump’s insatiable need for loyalty from anyone willing to kiss his ring, no matter how rotten they are.
The Fallout
For communities of color, this is yet another reminder that their lives mean jack shit to Trump and his cronies. It’s a slap in the face to anyone who’s ever marched, protested, or cried out for justice. And for cops trying to do their jobs without killing people or covering it up? This is the ultimate screw-you.
Trump’s pardons aren’t just bad—they’re catastrophic. They’re a signal that the worst abuses of power will be rewarded, not punished. And if you’re not angry about that, you’re not paying attention.
So, yeah, democracy took another punch to the gut this week. Thanks, Trump. Way to keep things classy.
