Clayton County police officer Kristopher Hutchens, who faces felony murder charges from a 2016 deadly officer-involved shooting, was captured in an exclusive photo provided to “Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey” showing him preparing to train officers on the SWAT team at a shooting range. He was originally placed on administrative leave.
Hutchens was indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County last year for felony murder and other offenses, including burglary, aggravated assault, and violating the oath of office by providing false statements to authorities for his role in the 2016 death of 26-year-old Jamarion Robinson.
After Richey broke the story on his show last week, Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts moved Hutchens to a non-training administrative duty position.
“What was the response from the police? Where the police decided just to give him another role — a role where he is literally the police officer, Hutchens, is literally in charge of training cops how to shoot while under felony indictment for murder,” said Richey, demanding action from the Clayton County Police Department and the Board of Commissioners. “I’m pissed. I’m upset.”
Clayton County police responded, later providing a statement to CBS 46 News in Atlanta, saying, “Recent concerns presented to the Clayton County Board of Commissioners about the administrative assignment of Sargent. K Hutchens to the in-service training unit have impacted the Board and the Clayton County Police Department. Chief Kevin Roberts has reconsidered the Sargent’s assignment, and moved him to a non-training duty; effective immediately.”
Roberts initially defended his actions and stood by his choice putting Hutchens as a SWAT team trainer.
Richey was able to obtain emails between District 3 Commissioner of the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, Felicia Franklin, and Roberts.
“Chief Roberts, is this true? If so, I am requesting a detailed response, for the board via this email by close of business today, as to why?” said Franklin in the email.
The Clayton County Board of Commissioners appeared unaware Hutchens was still training officers on using firearms.
Roberts responded to Franklin’s e-mail by saying, “On December 7, 2021, the Department received a copy of the Fulton County warrant for Sargent Hutchens that was dated October 28, 2021. On December 8, 2021, his police powers were suspended and he was placed on Administrative Duties. Because of his training background, he was assigned to the in-service training unit at the range.”
However, Roberts continues in the email to Franklin saying, “The totality of the circumstances in this case justify my decision to keep Sargent Hutchens at work in a non-sworn administrative capacity until the case is resolved.”
Franklin responded to Roberts, saying in the e-mail, “Chief Roberts I am disappointed in your response about Sgt. Kristopher Hutcherson (sic). First by saying the Board of Commissioners voted for him to be working in a training capacity is deceptive since he was not indicted for murder at the time. I can’t speak for others on the board but I believe it is unlikely that members of any board would think that this was a good idea to allow this assignment to continue on after the indictment. Furthermore, I am extremely concerned as a board member and mother of a Black Male, with your response justifying that you made a good decision that this officer should stay where he is.”
Franklin continued in the email to Roberts, “If you suspended this officer from having or carrying a firearm, why would you think this officer should be the safety instructor for other officers training with firearms? While I believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty, in the abundance of caution a better decision could have been made about what capacity Hutcherson (sic) should serve in until this case is resolved. I recommend that the board of commissioners review this matter so that we can make a better decision as to what this officer should be doing between now and his court date.”
Franklin also later followed up on that e-mail with another referencing the reporting seen on “Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey,” saying to Roberts, “Also, Chief you may want to take a look at this and the amount of views. This is not painting our county in a good light at all.”
Robinson was shot and killed six years ago when a fugitive task force made up of local law enforcement and federal authorities tried to take him into custody at his girlfriend’s apartment in East Point, Georgia. Authorities said Robinson had a gun and refused to put it down, which prompted them to shoot and kill Robinson over 50 times.
Hutchens and U.S. Marshal Eric Heinze were both indicted for murder.
” […] People want to believe that cops are the morally-superior enforcers and protectors of justice. But really, they’re just people. They’re unelected; they’re not appointed by anyone. They’re just people who chose a profession for themselves, for whatever reason that they personally chose it. And hopefully, we can really just hope that they did it for the right reasons. And meanwhile, the public is expected to just trust that these are good people and that they’re good at their jobs and they’re doing their jobs with integrity, when we know that there are a lot of people who don’t do their jobs with integrity, or they’re just not good at them,” said Yasmin Aliya Kahn, host of the Global Thread podcast, while speaking on ‘Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey’. “And these are cops. We’ve seen what happens when cops are bad at their jobs, the consequences for this are deadly.”
