An Indiana man who received a pardon from Donald Trump for his participation in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was fatally shot by a sherifff’s deputy during a traffic stop on Sunday, according to law enformcement authorities.
Matthew Huttle was killed by a Jasper County deputy “when an altercation took place between the suspect and the officer, which resulted in the officer firing his weapon and fatally wounding the suspect,” the Indiana State Police told The Associated Press.
The stop took place around 4:15 p.m. near the Pulaski County line in Indiana on State Road 14. It was not immediately clear why Huttle was pulled over.
Police said Huttle was found with a gun.
State police are investigating the shooting.
The officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.
“Our condolences go out to the family of the deceased as any loss of life is traumatic to those that were close to Mr. Huttle,” Jasper County Sheriff Patrick Williamson said in a statement to ABC7 Chicago. “I will release the officer’s name once I have approval from the State Police Detectives.”
Huttle, 42, of Hobart, was sentenced to six months in federal prison and a year of supervised released for entering the Capitol for about 10 minutes during the riot, then remaining on Capitol grounds for several hours, Fox 59 reports.
He was released from prison in July 2024, according to federal records.
Huttle, 42, traveled to the Capitol with his uncle Dale Huttle, who later pleaded guilty to January 6-related offenses, after being accused of attacking a police officer with a flagpole bearing an upside-down American flag.
“We ought to bum rush the Capitol building!” he reportedly told his nephew. “Arrest them all. We’ve got enough people to do that.”
Matthew Huttle’s defense attorney claimed his client was not an ideologue, but rather a bystander swept up in the violent events of January 6.
“He is not a true believer in any political cause,” attorney Andrew Hemmer wrote in a court filing about the January 6 case obtained by ABC7. “He instead went to the rally because he thought it would be a historic moment and he had nothing better to do after getting out of jail” for an unrelated offense.
Daniel Charles Ball, of Florida, who was freed from pretrial detention after Trump pardoned him for alleged offenses on January 6, was arrested last week on a federal gun charge.
As The Independent has reported, Trump’s mass pardon of 1,500 January 6 participants, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys and several who assaulted police officers, has reinvigorated a weakened U.S. militia movement and empowered white supremacists, experts have warned.