A progressive district attorney in Texas plans to ask Governor Greg Abbott to revoke a pardon he issued to a former Army soldier who shot and killed a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protester during 2020 demonstrations.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said he plans to file a writ of execution with the Court of Criminal Appeals to revoke Daniel Perry’s pardon.
“Three weeks ago, on May 16th, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Governor made a mockery of our justice system by putting politics above justice. They are disgraceful,” Garza said at a news conference announcing the move. “Their actions are against the law.”
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Daniel Perry enters a courtroom at the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott (right) pardoned Perry last month for his role in killing a Black Lives Matter protester. (AP, Getty Images)
“We will seek the court’s intervention to restore the sanctity of the rule of law in this great country,” he added.
Governor Abbott granted a full pardon to Perry, who was convicted last year of killing BLM protester and Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in downtown Austin during a protest in 2020. Foster was legally possessing an AK-47 rifle at the time of the July 2020 incident.
Perry was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles north of Austin, when the shooting occurred. He had just dropped off a ride-share customer and turned onto a street filled with protesters. He said he was making his way through the crowd when Foster pointed a rifle at him, causing him to fire his handgun.
Witnesses testified that they did not see Foster brandish a weapon, and prosecutors argued that Perry was able to flee in a car without firing a shot. Perry was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
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Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza (right) said he plans to ask the court to reject the pardon issued to Daniel Perry, who was convicted of shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin, Texas, in 2020. (Associated Press)
Holly Taylor, head of public integrity and complex crime, said that by issuing the pardon, Abbott had circumvented his powers and “violated the principle of separation of powers”.
“This was planned, this was pre-planned, and then the next day the governor announces his plans for a pardon, and now the governor has executed the pardon. I cannot accept this, and nobody should,” Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Perry’s attorney and Abbott’s office.
Garza is known for taking progressive positions on the criminal justice system, and in 2021 local media outlets reported that his office had dismissed criminal charges, including violent crimes, against some suspects before they even faced a judge.
Garrett Foster was shot and killed during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas in 2020. (KTBC)
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Perry’s attorney, Doug O’Connell, told Fox 7 Austin that Garza’s attempt to overturn the pardon was more “political theater.”
“The executive branch’s pardon power is a well-established constitutional power,” he said. “I wonder whether Mr. Taylor, who was recently sanctioned by the Travis County Court for violating the Michael Morton Act (destruction of evidence), will be able to persuade the Court of Criminal Appeals with a novel theory that challenges the Texas Constitution.”
