This is the story of two pardons in Texas.
The first was requested for George Floyd, the black man whose murder at the hands of Minnesota police in 2020 sparked protests across the country. His family asked for a posthumous forgiveness in Texas related to a minor drug conviction from 2004. The arresting officer was later charged with fabricating evidence and he himself was charged with murder.
opinion columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and living life in America.
When the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles reviewed the request and in 2021 recommended pardoning Floyd, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott did nothing. He waited. In the months following the board's recommendation, Abbott refused to speak publicly about a pardon for Floyd. And finally, mysteriously, the board reversed its recommendation in 2022, preventing the governor from making what would surely have been a politically unpopular decision for or against the application.
Which brings us to the second forgiveness in our story. Which Abbott was excited to talk about.
During the wave of Black Lives Matter protests that followed Floyd's killing, then-President Trump tweeted in June 2020: “any protesters… going to Oklahoma, please understand you will not be treated like you were in New York, Seattle or Minneapolis. It will be a very different scene!
Daniel Perry, a 30-year-old Army sergeant and Uber driver in Austin, responded to Trump's tweet with “send them to Texas and we'll show them why we say don't mess with Texas.”
A year later, Perry posted on social media: “I might have to kill some people on the way to work, they're rioting outside my apartment complex.” She then drove into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Austin before Shooting and killing one of them, 28-year-old Garrett Foster., a Texan and Air Force veteran who legally and openly carried an AK-47. Foster was white, as was Perry.
After a trial that lasted more than a week, and after 17 hours of deliberations, a Texas jury found Perry guilty of murder.
And Abbott, who was silent when the parole board recommended pardoning Floyd, expressed public support for Perry's pardon the day after his conviction and ordered the board to expedite its review.
“Texas has one of the strictest 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense laws that cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive district attorney,” Abbott said in a statement. “I look forward to approving the Board's clemency recommendation as soon as it reaches my desk.”
He then added, “I have already made it a priority to rein in dishonest district attorneys,” which was curious given that at the time Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, was under criminal investigation on securities fraud charges. Last month, a Texas appeals court ruled that Paxton could face disciplinary action from the state bar over failed attempts to overturn the 2020 general election. And yet, it's not Paxton, a Republican, who Abbott wanted to control. They are the district attorneys in the parts of Texas where they tolerated things like the Black Lives Matter protests.
Abbott is signaling that he wants that tolerance to end. He apparently wants the killers to be freed if they hate the same people Abbott hates. Perry fits the bill; He documented his hatred of protesters in frequent text messages and social media posts.
This kind of tug-of-war between big blue cities and little red governors happens frequently across the country. Abbott was not motivated to clear Floyd's name because it was not a benefit to his political cause. The forgiveness for Perry was a different story. And unfortunately, we all know why.
The night he would later be shot to death, Foster was interviewed by a journalist who asked him why he was carrying a gun during a peaceful protest. he said he was doing it to exercise your Second Amendment rights.
Perry later told police he did not see Foster raise his gun or point it at anyone. Perry made it clear even before arriving at the protests that he sought to kill. The claim that he killed Foster in self-defense simply doesn't hold water, as 12 jurors acknowledged when they convicted Perry of murder.
Judging by Abbott's statement about Texas' “stand your ground” law, the governor would like to muddy the waters and pretend that what happened that night was self-defense. Despite the evidence.
Just as he allowed George Floyd's conviction to stand, despite the evidence reviewed by the pardon board.
At first glance, they may all seem like separate legal cases. But take a step back and you'll see the same view of the world.
And that is the story of two pardons and a hateful man.
