Washington, D.C
Trump pardons two D.C. officers convicted in fatal chase and cover-up
President Donald Trump issued full and unconditional pardons Wednesday to two Washington, D.C., police officers who were convicted for their roles in a deadly chase of a young man on a moped in 2020 and subsequent cover-up, a case that led to protests in the nation’s capital.
Trump granted clemency to Metropolitan Police Department Officer Terence Sutton, who was sentenced in September to more than five years in prison. He faced a District of Columbia charge of second-degree murder, and federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice in the October 2020 unauthorized pursuit that killed Karon Hylton-Brown, 20. Sutton was the first D.C. police officer to be convicted of murder for conduct while on duty.
The same jury that found Sutton guilty also convicted Andrew Zabavsky, a lieutenant who supervised Sutton, of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice. Zabavsky was sentenced to four years in prison. He was not accused of the more serious charge of second-degree murder. Trump granted Zabavsky clemency.
Both men had been free pending the outcome of their appeals.
Trump had hinted of his plans to pardon them after his inauguration.
“They were arrested, put in jail for five years because they went after an illegal,” Trump said Tuesday. “And I guess something happened where something went wrong, and they arrested the two officers and put them in jail for going after a criminal.”
Hylton-Brown was an American citizen, said David Shurtz, an attorney representing his estate.
The D.C. Police Union praised Trump’s decision, saying in a statement that Sutton had been “wrongly charged by corrupt prosecutors for doing his job.”
“This action rights an incredible wrong that not only harmed Officer Sutton, but also crippled the ability for the department to function,” the union said.
The union expressed “dismay” a day earlier after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, including those who assaulted law enforcement officers.
The Metropolitan Police Department thanked Trump “for supporting its officers” after the Sutton-Zabavsky pardons, adding in a statement that the prosecutions “were literally unprecedented.”
“Never before, in any other jurisdiction in the country, has a police officer been charged with second-degree murder for pursuing a suspect,” the department said.
On the night of Oct. 23, 2020, months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis had ignited widespread protests against police brutality and racial injustice, Sutton used a police car to chase Hylton-Brown, who was driving a moped without a helmet on a sidewalk in northwest Washington, prosecutors said.
Hylton-Brown ignored Sutton’s attempt to stop him and drove off. Sutton chased Hylton-Brown for more than 10 blocks “at unreasonable speeds,” prosecutors said, and, at one point, drove the wrong way on a one-way street. Sutton followed Hylton-Brown into a narrow alley, turned off his car’s emergency lights and siren and accelerated. When Hylton-Brown exited the alley, he was struck by another vehicle, according to prosecutors.
“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,” prosecutors said in a statement in September.
The officers allowed the driver whose car struck Hylton-Brown to leave the scene within 20 minutes of the crash, then turned off their body-worn cameras, conferred privately and left, prosecutors said.
Sutton drove his police car directly over the crash site, audibly crushing pieces of debris from the collision as he left, prosecutors said, and neither officer contacted the department’s Major Crash Unit or its Internal Affairs Division to each initiate investigations.
They also misled their commanding officer about the severity of the crash, denying that a police chase had even occurred and omitting any mention of Hylton-Brown’s critical injuries, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, Zabavsky also falsely implied that Hylton-Brown had been drunk and Sutton drafted a false police report.
Hylton-Brown suffered severe head trauma and died two days later.
“The jury in this case found the defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for their roles in the murder of Karon Hylton Brown and a related cover up, affirming that what happened here was a serious crime,” then-U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said in September after the officers were sentenced. “Public safety requires public trust. 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.”
The case spurred days of protests outside a police station in Washington.
Shurtz, the attorney representing Hylton-Brown’s relatives, said Trump’s decision was “outrageous” and “misguided.”
“I think it’s one of the worst decisions Trump has ever made,” he said. “And I believe he is being ill-advised.”
Shurtz believes police unions influenced the decision for the officers to receive pardons.
Zabavsky’s attorney, Christopher Zampogna, said in a statement that his client “thanks President Trump for issuing his pardon unconditionally.” J. Michael Hannon, Sutton’s attorney, did not immediately return a request for comment.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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