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Greater than a 12 months after a Travis County jury convicted Daniel Perry of murdering a protester in Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Perry, 37, on Thursday shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles beneficial a full pardon.
A Texas state district court docket choose sentenced Perry in Might 2023 to 25 years in jail for taking pictures and killing U.S. Air Power veteran Garrett Foster throughout a 2020 demonstration protesting police brutality towards individuals of shade.
In the future after a jury convicted Perry, Abbott directed the parole board to overview the previous U.S. Military sergeant’s case.
“Among the many voluminous recordsdata reviewed by the Board, they thought of data offered by the Travis County District Legal professional, the total investigative report on Daniel Perry, plus a overview of all of the testimony offered at trial,” Abbott mentioned in an announcement asserting the proclamation that absolved Perry. “Texas has one of many strongest ‘Stand Your Floor’ legal guidelines of self-defense that can not be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Legal professional.”
Abbott permitted the board’s suggestion, which included restoration of Perry’s firearm rights.
Whitney Mitchell, Foster’s common-law spouse, mentioned that she had anticipated to develop outdated with Foster earlier than Perry murdered him. In a Thursday assertion, she mentioned Abbott’s pardon made Texans much less secure.
“Daniel Perry texted his buddies about plans to homicide a protester he disagreed with. After a prolonged trial, with an abundance of proof, 12 neutral Texans decided that he carried out that plan, and murdered my Garrett,” Mitchell mentioned. “With this pardon, the Governor has desecrated the lifetime of a murdered Texan and US Air Power veteran, and impugned that jury’s simply verdict. He has declared that Texans who maintain political opinions which might be totally different from his — and totally different from these in energy — could be killed on this State with impunity.”
Travis County District Legal professional José Garza echoed Mitchell’s message concerning the governor prioritizing some lives over others.
“The Board and the Governor have put their politics over justice and made a mockery of our authorized system. They need to be ashamed of themselves,” Garza mentioned in an announcement. “They’ve despatched the message that the service of the Travis County group members who served on the grand jury and trial jury doesn’t matter. ”
Doug O’Connell, Perry’s lawyer, thanked Abbott on Thursday for pardoning his shopper. He additionally thanked the board for investigating what he mentioned was an unlawful risk by Foster, that led to the incident on Congress Avenue in Austin.
“Daniel Perry was imprisoned for 372 days and misplaced the army profession that he liked,” O’Connell mentioned in an announcement. “We intend to combat to get Daniel’s army service characterization upgraded to an Honorable Discharge.”
In a Thursday assertion, the parole board mentioned it delved into the intricacies of Perry’s case, by reviewing paperwork, police report, court docket data, witness statements and interviews of people linked to the case. The board didn’t elaborate on why it issued a full pardon. The members of the seven-person board are appointed by Abbott.
Perry was driving for Uber on the time he encountered protesters a couple of blocks from the Capitol in downtown Austin. He stopped his automobile and honked at protesters as they walked by way of the road. Seconds later, he drove his automobile into the group, Austin police mentioned.
Foster was overtly carrying an AK-47 rifle on the time and throughout the trial, all sides offered conflicting accounts as as to if the protester raised the gun to Perry who was additionally legally armed. Perry shot Foster after which fled the realm, police mentioned. He then known as police and reported what occurred, claiming he shot in self-defense after Foster aimed his weapon at him.
The case caught the eye of influential conservative voices like former Fox Information host Tucker Carlson and Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi, who each pressured Abbott to pardon Perry saying he acted self-defense within the face of harmful protests.
Abbott not often points pardons, which the board should advocate earlier than the governor can act. Abbott granted three pardons in 2023, two pardons in 2022 and eight in 2021 — most for lower-level offenses.
Shortly after Perry’s conviction, unsealed court docket paperwork revealed he had made a slew of racist, threatening feedback about protesters in textual content messages and social media posts. Days after George Floyd’s homicide by a Minneapolis police officer prompted nationwide protests, Perry despatched a textual content message saying, “I’d go to Dallas to shoot looters.” Each Perry and Foster are white.
Perry, a U.S. Military sergeant, additionally despatched racist and anti-Muslim messages earlier than and after Floyd’s loss of life. In April 2020, he despatched a meme, which included a photograph of a lady holding her little one’s head underneath water within the bathtub, with the textual content, “WHEN YOUR DAUGHTERS FIRST CRUSH IS A LITTLE NEGRO BOY,” in line with the state’s submitting.
Throughout his trial, a number of colleagues within the Military testified that Perry handled everybody pretty, no matter race. His legal professionals known as Perry’s social media posts and messages as “barracks humor.”
“This pardon not solely undermines the justice system but in addition sends a chilling message that politically motivated violence is suitable. This determination is a slap within the face to the Foster household, the Black Lives Matter motion, and to all who consider in justice and equality,” Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri Metropolis, mentioned in an announcement. Reynolds serves because the chairman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.
The court docket paperwork additionally revealed that Perry despatched inappropriate messages to somebody who claimed to be 16 years outdated by way of Kik Messenger, a communication platform that has been used to share little one pornography.
“Additionally promise me no nudes till you might be sufficiently old to be of age,” Perry wrote, the identical month he shot and killed Foster.
Earlier than signing off, Perry wrote, “I’m going to mattress give you a cause why I must be your boyfriend earlier than I get up.”
In his proclamation, Abbott took goal at Garza’s dealing with of the case and accused the district legal professional of misusing his workplace. He mentioned Garza directed the lead detective investigating the case to withhold exculpatory proof from the grand jury.
Abbott mentioned that Garza “prioritized ‘lowering entry to weapons’ that residents could use to lawfully defend themselves” as an alternative of defending Perry’s proper to self protection.
In March, Travis County voters handed Garza a simple victory within the Democratic major after he ran on a progressive platform to research extra sexual assault instances, prosecute police misconduct and try and divert extra individuals from jail. He is anticipated to be re-elected in November.
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