TExas Gov. Greg Abbot granted a full pardon Thursday to a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed protester in 2020 during protests across the country against police violence and racial injustice.
Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said it had made a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his gun rights restored. Perry has been held in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his 2023 conviction.
The Republican governor had previously ordered the board to review Daniel Perry’s case and previously said he would sign a pardon if it was recommended. The board, appointed by the governor, announced its unanimous recommendation in a message posted on the agency’s website and Abbott’s pardon quickly followed.
Abbott’s demand for a review of Perry’s case followed pressure from former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who on national television urged the Republican governor to intervene after the sergeant was condemned on trial in April 2022. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist who could commit violence again.
An Austin jury convicted Perry of murder in the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran who legally carried an AK-47 while marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. Perry was working as a rideshare driver in July 2020 when he turned his car onto a street packed with protesters and shot Foster before driving away.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Perry could have fled without opening fire and witnesses testified that they never saw Foster raise his gun. The sergeant’s defense attorneys argued that Foster, who is white, raised the rifle and that Perry had no choice but to shoot. Perry, who is also white, did not appear on the witness stand and jurors deliberated for two days before finding him guilty.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
