The Irony: Pardoned Jan. 6 Convict Shot And Killed By Indiana Cop For Allegedly Resisting Arrest
On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, just hours after he was sworn in for his second term, he pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants and commuted the sentences of the other 14. It took one week for one of those defendants to have another run-in with the law — which, this time, resulted in his death.
According to ABC 6, 42-year-old Matthew Huttle of Hobart, Indiana, was shot and killed by a deputy with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department who says he resisted arrest during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon. Hobart had previously been sentenced to six months in federal prison followed by 12 months on supervised release for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His prison term had ended July 17, 2024.
From ABC 6:
Indiana State Police said the traffic stop led to the deputy attempting to arrest Huttle, but Huttle allegedly resisted and struggled with the officer. This “altercation” led to the deputy firing his gun and killing Huttle.
According to state police, Huttle was in possession of a firearm during the traffic stop. No additional details were provided about the altercation between Huttle and the deputy or what Huttle was being arrested for.
Ironically, the circumstances reported so far surrounding Huttle’s death have all the hallmarks of questionable police shootings of armed (and often unarmed) Black people, leaving more questions than answers and prompting activists, family members and community members to demand police transparency, including video footage of the stop. It’s ironic, also, because Huttle participated in a riot at the Capitol in which numerous police officers were attacked, and yet the defendants were pardoned by Trump, who purports himself to be tough on crime and pro-police. (This is also as good a time as any to remind you that “back the blue” MAGA supporters also called for justice for Ashli Babbit, the Capitol rioter who was fatally shot by a Black police officer whose orders she refused to comply with.)
As for Huttle’s Jan. 6 participation, he was arrested along with his uncle, Dale Huttle, who said at the time of his sentencing, “I have no regrets. I will not say I’m sorry.”
“It was our duty as patriots,” he said, serving as a reminder of the danger of Trump’s propaganda.
ABC noted that “Matthew Huttle isn’t the first Capitol rioter to quickly face trouble after his pardon.”
In fact, one day after Trump issued his pardons, one of the beneficiaries, Daniel Ball, was arrested on federal gun charges. Pardoned on a Tuesday, arrested that Wednesday.
Could you imagine what MAGA supporters would have to say if Ball and Huttle were Black Lives Matter protesters? Of course not. Trump would never have pardoned them in the first place.
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