Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Saturday that he would pardon Daniel Perry, who less than 24 hours prior had been convicted of murder in the death of a Black Lives Matter protester.
Abbott, who has made a name for himself as one of the most conservative governors in the country, tweeted that "Texas has one of the strongest 'stand your ground' laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive district attorney." Abbott added that while the Texas constitution does not allow the governor to issue pardons without a recommendation by the state's parole board, he had requested that they do so "and instructed the board to expedite its review."
Perry was convicted of murdering Garrett Foster, and faces a sentence of life in prison. On July 25, 2020, Perry had been working as an Uber driver in Austin when he drove toward a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters. At this point, Foster approached Perry's vehicle carrying an AK-47 rifle, The New York Times reported. Perry admitted that he shot Foster with a .357 revolver through the window of his car after Foster allegedly raised his rifle at him.
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While Perry's legal team insisted that he acted in self-defense, the Times noted, prosecutors alleged that Perry had instigated the encounter, and reportedly wrote on social media that he might "kill a few people on my way to work."
Foster's brother, Ryan Foster, told the Austin American-Statesman that Perry should not be pardoned, calling his brother's killing "clearly premeditated" and saying Perry "wanted to kill a protester and saw somebody exercising their Second Amendment right."
David Wahlberg, a former Travis County criminal court judge, told the Statesman it was "outrageously presumptuous" of Abbott "to make a judgment about the verdict of 12 unanimous jurors without actually hearing the evidence in person."
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