Trump pardon recipient shot dead during traffic stop

I have stated many times that I believe Trump overstepped by issuing blanket pardons to every January 6 defendant.

Trump will now have to live with the actions of these people during his presidency, and that would include having seen one of those pardon recipients recently shot dead during a traffic stop.

Promising the Pardon

Trump never hid the fact that he wanted to pardon the January 6 defendants.

Vance had made it clear during interviews that he thought the violent offenders should remain in jail, but attorneys for the defendants were pretty sure a full pardon was coming their way.

John Pierce, who defended dozens of the January 6 participants, stated, "I expect he will be very quick and very broad in what he does. If he does not issue essentially a blanket pardon on day 1, I think he will face a lot of backlash."

He was right on all accounts.

Pardon Issued

I have stated all along that I could care less about the pardons of the 1,300 or so people who were aimlessly wandering around the Capitol, but I do believe Trump should have been more careful about the rest of the cases.

Trump had previously stated that they were going to look at everyone on a case-by-case basis, but as it got closer to Trump taking office, he had stated, "It would be very, very cumbersome to go and look – you know how many people we're talking about? 1,500 people.”

When Trump did issue the pardons, Vance also walked back his position regarding the violent offenders, insisting that the pardons were given because of a lack of due process.

I would note that in addition to the few dozen violent offenders, there were a considerable number of defendants who had prior criminal records, something else Trump should have looked at before issuing the pardons.

Live with This

Be it fair or not, the media is going to hold Donald Trump accountable for the actions of anyone pardoned from January 6. Sadly, this now includes the death of Matthew Huttle, 42, who was among those pardoned, but was recently shot dead during a traffic stop.

Huttle was reportedly speeding when a Jasper County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped him. As he discussed the incident with the officer, he stated, “I can’t go to jail for this, sir.”

After some back and forth, and checking Huttle’s documents, the officer was going to take Huttle into custody. As the officer told him to put his hands behind his back, Huttle lunged for his weapon that was inside the car, stating, “I’m shooting myself.” The deputy pleaded with Huttle, saying, “No, no, no, no,” then the officer drew his weapon and shot Huttle at least four times.

It’s tragic, but based on Huttle’s apparent mental state, perhaps this is someone who would have benefited from remaining in jail. Again, obviously don’t fault Trump for his death, but it does show that perhaps Trump jumped the gun by not actually evaluating these on a case-by-case basis, as he had promised.