Courts and Executive Clemency

Days before leaving office, former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin granted an absolute pardon to ex‑Fairfax County police Sgt. Wesley Gonzalez Shifflett, who was convicted in 2024 of reckless handling of a firearm for the fatal 2023 shooting of unarmed shoplifting suspect Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center. The newly released pardon, dated Jan. 15, 2026, declares Shifflett’s use of deadly force 'lawful and consistent' with department policy and training, effectively erasing the remaining conviction less than a year after Youngkin had already used clemency to throw out his three‑year prison sentence. Body‑camera footage showed Shifflett chasing Johnson into woods, shouting 'Get on the ground' and firing two shots about two seconds later, then telling other officers Johnson was 'reaching' toward his waistband; Johnson can be heard afterward saying, 'I don’t have nothing.' Fairfax County’s internal review likewise concluded Shifflett’s actions were 'objectively reasonable' given what he believed at the time, while Johnson’s mother has denounced Youngkin’s interventions as an affront to the jury and judge who weighed the evidence. The decision underscores how Republican governors are using expansive clemency powers to shield law‑enforcement officers in controversial killings even after mixed jury verdicts, a trend that’s drawing fresh scrutiny amid nationwide protests over police and federal‑agent shootings from Virginia to Minnesota.