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Texas Governor Greg Abbott Thursday, May 16th pardoned Daniel Perry, an ex-US Army sergeant convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020. Perry, who was working as an Uber driver at the time, encountered a group of demonstrators while driving in Austin.
The incident occurred on July 25, 2020, when Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old former US Air Force mechanic and BLM protester, approached Perry’s vehicle carrying an AK-47 rifle, which is legal to carry openly in Texas. Perry, now 37, claimed self-defense, stating that he felt threatened and shot Foster five times with a .357 revolver, then called 911.
Perry was convicted of murder in April 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, the case attracted significant attention from conservative circles, leading Governor Abbott to announce his intention to pardon Perry once the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles reviewed the case.
On Thursday, Governor Abbott confirmed the pardon, citing Texas’ robust “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allow individuals to use deadly force if they believe they are at risk of serious harm. “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said, referencing Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, a Democrat.
Garza criticized the pardon, stating, “The Board and the Governor have put their politics over justice and made a mockery of our legal system. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
Court documents revealed that Perry had been searching for BLM protest locations and had sent messages on social media expressing hostile views towards protesters. In one message, he compared protesters to “a bunch of monkeys flinging at a zoo,” and in another, he discussed “hunting Muslims” and making violent threats.
The pardon has sparked a heated debate over the application of self-defense laws and the influence of political bias in the judicial process.
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