Texas governor Abbott pardons man who killed Black Lives Matter protester | Black Lives Matter Information

Daniel Perry was jailed for 25 years for taking pictures lifeless protester Garrett Foster in Austin in 2020.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has granted a full pardon to a former US Military sergeant and Uber driver who was jailed for 25 years for fatally taking pictures a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.

Abbott, a Republican, in his pardon proclamation, cited the state’s “Stand Your Floor” self-defence legislation, one of many strongest such measures in america.

The announcement got here shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously advisable a pardon for Daniel Perry and restoration of his firearm rights following an investigation that the board carried out on the governor’s request.

Perry, 37, was discovered responsible in April 2023 of homicide within the demise of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, a US Air Drive veteran who was shot at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin, the state capital, in July 2020.

The demonstration got here amid a storm of protests throughout the nation in opposition to racial injustice and police brutality within the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis cops in Could of that yr.

Perry insisted he was appearing in self-defence when he shot Foster, claiming he had no selection however to open hearth along with his handgun when Foster pointed the AK-47 he was legally carrying at Perry. Perry is white, as was Foster.

Perry was driving in Austin that night time and had turned his Uber automobile onto a avenue the place the demonstrators had been marching, main members of the gang to imagine they had been at risk of being assaulted by his automobile, in response to media accounts of the incident.

Throughout the trial, the 2 sides offered conflicting accounts of whether or not Foster levelled his gun at Perry.

‘Politics over justice’

In his pardon proclamation, Abbott stated the jury’s verdict in impact “nullified” the state’s “Stand Your Floor” self-defence legislation. The statute removes an individual’s responsibility to retreat from an unprovoked risk of violence earlier than utilizing lethal drive if that individual has a proper to be there.

Perry’s lawyer, Doug O’Connell, stated the pardon “corrects the courtroom travesty” of his consumer’s conviction, including that Perry was “thrilled and elated to be free”.

“Daniel Perry was imprisoned for 372 days and misplaced the army profession he cherished,” O’Connell stated within the assertion, quoted by Austin tv station KXAN. “We intend to battle to get Daniel’s army service characterisation upgraded to an honourable discharge.”

In line with KXAN, Foster’s fiancee, Whitney Mitchell, shared her response in a joint assertion along with her mom, calling the pardon a “devastating blow” that “reopened deep wounds”.

Travis County District Legal professional Jose Garza, a Democrat whose workplace introduced the case in opposition to Perry, condemned the pardon, saying the parole board and the governor had “put their politics over justice and made a mockery of our authorized system”.

The parole board gave no particular motive for its suggestion however stated its investigation “delved into the intricacies” of Perry’s case, together with a evaluate of police stories, courtroom information and witness statements.