Daniel Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting protester Garrett Foster in Austin in 2020.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott granted a full pardon to a former US Army sergeant and Uber driver who was jailed for 25 years for shooting dead a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Abbott, a Republican, in his clemency proclamation cited the state's “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, one of the strongest measures of its kind in the United States.
The announcement came shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended a pardon for Daniel Perry and the restoration of his firearms rights following an investigation the board conducted at the governor's request.
Perry, 37, was found guilty in April 2023 of murdering Garrett Foster, 28, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin, the state capital, in July 2020.
The demonstration came amid a storm of nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in May of that year.
Perry insisted that he was acting in self-defense when he shot Foster, claiming that he had no choice but to open fire with his pistol when Foster pointed the AK-47 he was legally carrying at Perry. Perry is white, as is Foster.
Perry was driving in Austin that night and had turned his Uber car onto a street where protesters were marching, leading members of the crowd to believe they were in danger of being assaulted by his vehicle, according to media reports of the incident. .
During the trial, the two sides presented conflicting accounts about whether Foster pointed his gun at Perry.
'Politics over justice'
In his clemency proclamation, Abbott said the jury's verdict effectively “nullified” the state's “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law. The statute eliminates a person's duty to retreat from a threat of unprovoked violence before using deadly force if that person has a right to be there.
Perry's attorney, Doug O'Connell, said the pardon “corrects the judicial travesty” of his client's conviction, adding that Perry was “excited and elated to be free.”
“Daniel Perry was imprisoned for 372 days and lost the military career he loved,” O'Connell said in the statement, quoted by Austin television station KXAN. “We intend to fight to have Daniel's characterization of military service elevated to an honorable discharge.”
According to KXAN, Foster's fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, shared her reaction in a joint statement with her mother, calling the pardon a “devastating blow” that “reopened deep wounds.”
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, a Democrat whose office brought the case against Perry, condemned the pardon and said the parole board and the governor had “put their politics before justice and made a mockery of our legal system”.
The parole board did not give any specific reason for its recommendation, but said its investigation “delved into the complexities” of Perry's case, including a review of police reports, court records and witness statements.
