Texas governor pardons man convicted of murdering Black Lives Matter protester
- Daniel Perry, who gunned down US Air Force veteran Garrett Foster at a rally, said the victim had pointed an AK-47 at him, and he opened fire in self-defence
- Perry had driven his car onto a street where demonstrators were marching, leading some to believe they were in danger of being assaulted by his vehicle
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday granted a full pardon to a former US Army sergeant and Uber driver who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Abbott, a Republican, in his pardon proclamation cited the state’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defence law, one of the strongest such measures in the US.
The clemency proclamation was issued shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended a pardon for Daniel Perry and restoration of his firearm rights following an investigation that the board conducted at the governor’s request.
Perry, 37, was found guilty in April 2023 of murder in the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, a US Air Force veteran who was gunned down at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin, the state capital, in July 2020.
The demonstration came amid a storm of protests across the country against racial injustice and police brutality in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May of that year.
Perry has insisted he was acting in self-defence when he shot Foster, asserting that he had no choice but to open fire with his handgun when Foster pointed the AK-47 he was legally carrying at Perry. Perry is white, as was Foster.
