Texas governor seeks to pardon Army sergeant convicted of murder

Associated Press
Sunday, April 9, 2023 6:35 p.m. | Sunday, April 9, 2023 6:35 p.m.

Austin American-Statesman

U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, center, and his attorney Doug O’Connell, left, walk out of the courtroom during jury deliberations in his murder trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas.

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This booking photo provided by the Austin, Texas, Police Department shows U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry.

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Austin American-Statesman

Austin police investigate a homicide shooting that occurred at a demonstration against police violence in downtown Austin, Texas, July 25, 2020.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he is seeking to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Abbott tweeted that because the state constitution limits him to a pardon only on a recommendation by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles he is asking the board to recommend a pardon and to expedite his request in order to pardon Sgt. Daniel Perry.

“I look forward to approving the board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” Abbott wrote.

NEW: The DA in Austin denounces efforts by Gov. Abbott to pardon Army Sgt. Daniel Perry in the shooting of an armed Black Lives Matter protester: “A jury gets to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent — not the governor.” pic.twitter.com/9anSZU3rnm

— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) April 9, 2023

Perry was convicted Friday by a Travis County jury of fatally shooting 28-year-old Garrett Foster during a protest in Austin. He faces up to life in prison when sentenced.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said.

A phone call to District Attorney José Garza’s office on Saturday was not answered.

Perry’s attorneys argued that the shooting was self-defense as Foster approached Perry’s car with an AK-47 rifle. Prosecutors said Perry could have driven away before firing his revolver and witnesses testified that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry.

From the police interview of Daniel Perry, the man convicted of murder whom Gov. Greg Abbott now wants to pardon.

"I didn't want to give him a chance to aim at me, ya know?"

In an increasingly armed society, when do you get to shoot gun-carrying people and call it self-defense? pic.twitter.com/ZjfJZYwZsp

— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) April 8, 2023

Perry, who was charged in 2021, was stationed at Ft. Hood about 70 miles north of Austin in July 2020 when he was working for a ride-sharing company and turned onto a street and into a large crowd of demonstrators in downtown Austin.

In video streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters begin screaming and scattering.

When Foster was killed, demonstrators in Austin and beyond had been marching in the streets for weeks as a result of the police killing of George Floyd.

Floyd died May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.

Floyd’s killing was recorded on video by a bystander and sparked worldwide protests as part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.