(RepublicanNews.org) – A former U.S. Army sergeant sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2024 has received a full pardon from Gov. Gregg Abbott (R-TX).
The governor signed off on Daniel Perry’s pardon after the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons reached the unanimous decision to recommend that Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored in full. Without this recommendation, Abbott would have had no authority to pardon Perry. Gov. Abbott praised the parole board and cited the state’s “Stand Your Ground” defense laws as justification for the pardon.
Perry was working as an Uber driver on July 25th, 2020, when he drove into a road where Black Lives Matter protestors were demonstrating. One protestor, Garrett Foster, approached Perry’s vehicle. At the time, Foster was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle. According to Perry, who is now 37, protestors banged on his car repeatedly and Foster raised his rifle at Perry before Perry fired his weapon. Perry shot Foster five times with his .357 revolver before fleeing to safety in his vehicle. He called 911 to report the shooting shortly after.
Some witnesses denied the veracity of Perry’s argument, claiming that Foster did not raise his weapon and that the protestors were afraid of being rammed by Perry’s car. A photograph taken at the time appears to show several masked protestors gathered closely around Perry’s car and Foster with his hand on his rifle next to the car.
The jury rejected Perry’s claim of self-defense and found him guilty of murder. Before his sentencing, he faced a possible sentence of 99 years behind bars for Foster’s death. The District Attorney for Travis County, Jose Garza, lambasted the decision to pardon Perry, claiming that it showed that in Texas, “some lives matter and some lives do not.”
Both Perry and Foster were white, but during the trial, the prosecution sought to claim that Perry felt a racially inspired animus towards the Black Lives Matter protestors and saw Foster as being on ‘their side.’ They used text messages that showed his disdain for people behaving “like animals at the zoo” and said that he had supported the protestors before they started looting and acting violently. The defense called several army colleagues to testify that Perry had never displayed racist behavior.
Perry’s attorney released a statement after the pardon in which he said that Perry recognized that Foster’s loved ones were grieving for their loss. He added that Perry was “elated” to be freed and felt optimistic about his future.
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