Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that a former U.S. Army sergeant was convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator during nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice in 2020. granted a full pardon.
Abbott announced the pardon minutes after it was revealed that the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole had unanimously recommended that Daniel Perry be pardoned and his firearm rights restored. Perry has been serving a 25-year sentence in state prison since his conviction in 2023.
The Republican governor had previously ordered the board to reconsider Perry’s case and said he would sign a pardon if recommended. A board appointed by the governor announced the unanimous recommendation in a message posted on the agency’s website, and Abbott’s pardon quickly followed.
Abbott’s request to reconsider the Perry case comes after former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who had urged the Republican governor to intervene on national television after the sergeant was found guilty in an April 2022 trial. It was under pressure from Mr. Perry was later sentenced to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to paint him as a racist who could become violent again.
An Austin jury found Perry guilty of murder in the death of Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran who was legally carrying an AK-47 at a Black Lives Matter protest. did. Perry was working as a rideshare driver in July 2020 when he turned on his car on a street crowded with protesters, shot Foster and drove off.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Perry may have driven away without firing a shot, and witnesses testified that they never saw Foster raise the gun. The sergeant’s attorney argued that Foster, who was white, raised his rifle and Perry had no choice but to fire. Perry, who is also white, did not take the witness stand, and jurors deliberated for two days before finding him guilty.
