(Fox News) Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that he intends to seek a pardon for an Army Sergeant recently convicted of murder for shooting a Black Lives Matter protester during an anti-police demonstration in 2020.
“I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” the Texas Republican tweetedSaturday along with a statement on how his office will go about a pardon.
Abbott said in his tweet that pardons in Texas must be recommended by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
“I have made that request and instructed the board to expedite its review,” Abbott said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference on January 31, 2023 (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry. pic.twitter.com/HydwdzneMU
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 8, 2023
The governor said he looks forward to signing the pardon as soon as it reaches his desk.
Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was convicted of murder on Friday for shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester holding an AK-47 after the gun was raised toward him. The Austin Police Department concluded at the time that Perry acted in self-defense.
Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood at the time of the shooting, was driving for Uber to make extra money in downtown Austin on the night of July 25, 2020, when he encountered a large crowd of protesters. They were illegally blocking city streets that night, according to police, as protesters in Austin and elsewhere had done during the weeks of rioting.
Among the protesters was 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was carrying an AK-47. Perry’s defense team says that the demonstrators encircled and starting pounding on his vehicle and that Foster raised the firearm at Perry, prompting him to open fire with a handgun he legally carried for self-defense.
