Justice Department to consider pardoning man who killed BLM protesters

AUSTIN, Texas – Attorneys general in other states want the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Texas’s pardon of a man convicted of murder.

Governor Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry in early May after he was convicted of murdering Garrett Foster during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

On Wednesday, the attorneys general of 13 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to the Justice Department calling for an investigation into Perry’s actions on civil rights grounds. The letter demands that the department investigate whether Perry violated federal criminal law.

Foster was armed when he was killed by Perry, prompting Abbott to say Perry’s conviction violated Texas’ “Stand Your Ground” law. Perry claimed he shot Foster in self-defense after encountering a group of protesters while working as a rideshare driver in downtown Austin.

RELATED: Austin police penned letter to parole board in favor of man convicted of killing BLM protester

A few hours after his pardon, Perry was released from a prison in southeast Texas.

An attorney for Garrett Foster’s fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, released a statement on her behalf following Perry’s pardon:

“I loved Garrett Foster. I thought we would grow old together. He was the love of my life. He still is. This lawlessness breaks my heart. Governor Abbott has shown that only certain lives matter to him. He has made us all less safe.

Daniel Perry texted his friends about plans to murder a protester whose views he disagreed with. After a lengthy trial with a wealth of evidence, 12 impartial Texans found that he carried out that plan and murdered the love of my life. With this pardon, the Governor has desecrated the life of a murdered Texan, challenged the jury’s just verdict, and declared that citizens can be killed with impunity as long as they hold different political views than those in power.”

RELATED: Texas governor pardons former Army sergeant convicted of killing Black Lives Matter protester

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