Texas gov seeks pardon for killer of anti-police brutality protester
Texas' Republican governor has stated that he intends to seek a pardon for an Uber driver who was convicted of murder after shooting a protester during a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020.
Governor Greg Abbott announced on Saturday that he had asked the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend a pardon for Daniel Perry, who was convicted of killing protester Garrett Foster after an eight-day jury trial.
"I look forward to reviewing the Board's pardon recommendation as soon as it reaches my desk," Abbott said in a tweet. According to Texas law, he needed such a recommendation before acting, he said.
Perry, a US army sergeant and part-time ride-hailing service driver, claims he was driving through Austin when he came across a street full of protesters in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to police, Perry honked at the protesters and drove into the crowd in an attempt to get through.
Foster, a 28-year-old white man, was carrying an AK-47 rifle legally.
The jury heard conflicting testimony about whether Foster pointed the AK-47, but Perry, who is also white, said he feared for his life and opened fire with a legally carried handgun.
Perry's attorneys argued that the state's "Stand Your Ground" law justified his actions.
Abbott concurred.
"Texas has one of the strongest 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense laws in the country, which cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive District Attorney," he said in a statement.
According to the Texas Tribune, the Texas Republican Party urged Abbott to issue a pardon, which he did twice last year and eight times in 2021, all for lower-level offenses.
While Texas Republicans applauded Abbott's decision, Sarah Eckhardt, a Democratic state legislator, called it "a stunning and dangerous abrogation of the rule of law that will embolden more armed confrontations and inevitable tragedies."
"Stand Your Ground" laws have been highly debated, especially since a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman of murdering an unarmed Black teen, Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman had pursued based on unfounded suspicions, in 2013.
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