A coalition of attorneys general from several states urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open a civil rights investigation into the 2020 murder of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protester, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) pardoned his killer two weeks ago.
The group of attorneys general, all Democrats, said Garrett Foster, the protester, was “exercising” his First Amendment right at the time he was shot. They also criticized the case, saying the facts were “egregious”.
The group, in its letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, expressed concern about the “stand your ground” law, which Abbott mentioned when announcing Daniel Perry’s pardon in mid-May.
“The undersigned Attorneys General are concerned that these “stand your ground” laws encourage vigilantes to participate in protests armed and ready to shoot and kill those exercising their First Amendment rights,” the coalition said in the communicated. Letter dated Wednesday.
The Texas governor pardoned Perry, who was convicted of murder for fatally shooting Foster, an Air Force veteran, during a 2020 protest that sparked the entire country following the killing of George Floyd. Perry was found guilty by a jury in April 2023 of Foster’s murder. He was found not guilty of one count of aggravated assault.
Perry, who worked as an Uber driver, dropped off a passenger in downtown Austin, Texas. He saw Foster, who was legally armed and carrying an AK-47 rifle, and allegedly pointed the rifle at Perry.
Perry, who had a pistol, shot Foster because he feared for his life.
In the letter calling for the investigation, the group said the deadly incident occurred when Perry “googled protest locations and sent a text message stating that he was considering traveling to another city to ‘shoot looters.’ His Internet search history includes evidence that he intended to cover up his crime (including a search for whether “the federal government [has] the ballistics of every legally sold firearm’).
“When states fail to protect their residents from such violations of our civil rights, it is imperative that the DOJ intervene and ensure justice is served,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the attorneys general, said in a statement. included in the letter. . Others are from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
“We urge the DOJ to investigate this incident and demonstrate that this will not be tolerated in America,” James said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
