One year 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 recommended a full pardon.
A Texas district court judge sentenced Perry to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing U.S. Air Force veteran Garrett Foster during a 2020 demonstration protesting police brutality against people of color.
On July 25, 2020, Perry pulled his car into a group of about 20 protesters marching for Black lives at the corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. He stopped and protesters rushed to his car and began slapping and kicking it. Foster, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran openly carrying an AK-47, approached the driver’s side door and made some kind of comment. Perry opened the window and fired five shots at Foster’s chest, killing him.
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One day after Perry was convicted, Abbott directed the parole board to review the former U.S. Army sergeant’s case.
“Among the voluminous files reviewed by the Board, they considered information provided by the Travis County District Attorney, the full investigative report on Daniel Perry, plus a review of all the testimony provided at trial,” Abbott said in a statement announcing the proclamation that absolved Perry. “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.”