Killing of Matthew Huttle, 42, during traffic stop ‘legally justified’ and will not lead to criminal charges, lawyers say

Summary

Matthew Huttle, a 42-year-old pardoned January 6 rioter, was fatally shot by an Indiana deputy during a traffic stop 6 days after Trump granted clemency to over 1,500 Capitol attackers.

Huttle, previously sentenced to six months in prison, was pulled over for driving 70mph (113km/h) in a 55mph zone and faced arrest as a habitual traffic offender.

According to newly released body camera footage, Huttle said “I’m shooting myself” before reaching for a loaded gun in his car, prompting the deputy to fire.

Prosecutors ruled the shooting “legally justified.” His death adds to mounting legal issues among pardoned rioters.

  • SlothMama@lemmy.world
    175·
    4 months ago

    Honestly feel really bad for the guy. He goes to end his own life and gets murdered for it. He was right at the edge of what he could handle and the traffic stop and arrest was enough to put him over the edge.

    Whether this sounds crazy or not, I possess the empathy enough to understand exactly how this person felt in his last moments.

    • immutable@lemm.ee
      11·
      4 months ago

      Yea I feel bad for him too, you can tell when the officer tells him he has no choice to arrest him that he’s realizing how badly he just messed up.

      In his mind he was about to lose his pardon and go back into the prison system.

      But to me that also makes me think the officer is justified in his use of force. People that think everything is ruined are unpredictable and he was reaching for violence. While he was saying he was going to turn that violence on himself, there’s no particular reason to trust what he’s saying. I think there’s a very real possibility he gets the gun saying “I’m shooting myself” but then once he has it maybe shooting the cop sounds a bit better.

      If I’m the officer I’m not rolling the dice to see if he points the gun at his head or mine.

      And as much as I can empathize with the feeling of fear and loss in that moment, ultimately he made a bunch of choices that led to that. He did whatever he did to get his license suspended, he drove on a suspended license, and even in this instance he broke the speed limit knowing that the results of even a minor infraction could lead to the loss of his freedom.

      At some point he has to be responsible for the consequences of his actions.

    • parmesan@lemmy.world
      81·
      4 months ago

      The fact he brought up his pardon umprompted as if he thought it would be his get out of jail free card makes it hard for me to feel empathetic. Especially since there’s a real possibility some cops have let him off scott-free in the past just because of his involvement in J6.