Texas Gov. Abbott pardons man who killed Black Lives Matter protester | Black Lives Matter news

Daniel Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting protester Garrett Foster in Austin in 2020.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has granted a full pardon to a former U.S. Army sergeant and Uber driver who was imprisoned for 25 years for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 .

Abbott, a Republican, referenced the state’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law, one of the strictest measures of its kind in the United States, in his pardon statement.

The announcement came shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended a pardon for Daniel Perry and the restoration of his firearms rights following an investigation the board conducted at the governor’s request.

Perry, 37, was convicted in April 2023 of the murder of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin, the state capital, in July 2020.

The demonstration came amid a storm of protests across the country against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May of that year.

Perry insisted he acted in self-defense when he shot Foster, claiming he had no choice but to open fire with his pistol when Foster raised the AK-47 he was legally carrying Perry judged. Perry is white, as is Foster.

According to media reports, Perry was driving in Austin that night and had pulled his Uber car onto a street where protesters were marching, leading the crowd to believe they were in danger of being attacked by his vehicle.

During the trial, both sides presented conflicting testimony about whether Foster pointed his gun at Perry.

“Politics comes before justice”

In his pardon statement, Abbott said the jury’s verdict “nullified” the state’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law. The law removes a person’s obligation to retreat from an unprovoked threat of force before using deadly force if that person has the right to be there.

Perry’s attorney, Doug O’Connell, said the pardon “corrects the judicial travesty” of his client’s conviction, adding that Perry is “thrilled and elated to be free.”

“Daniel Perry was incarcerated for 372 days and lost the military career he loved,” O’Connell said in the statement, quoted by Austin television station KXAN. “We intend to fight to have Daniel’s military service character upgraded to an honorable discharge.”

According to KXAN, Foster’s fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, shared her reaction in a joint statement with her mother, calling the pardon a “devastating blow” that “reopened deep wounds.”

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, a Democrat whose office filed the lawsuit against Perry, condemned the pardon, saying the parole board and the governor had “put their politics above justice and made a mockery of our legal system.”

The parole board did not provide a specific reason for its recommendation, but said its investigation “addressed the intricacies” of Perry’s case, including a review of police reports, court records and witness statements.