Texas Governor Greg Abbott has granted a full pardon to a former US Army sergeant and Uber driver who spent 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Abbott, a Republican, in his pardon proclamation, cited the state’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, one of the strongest such measures in the United States.
The announcement came shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended a pardon for Daniel Perry and restoration of his firearm rights following an investigation that the board conducted at the governor’s request.
37 year old Perry was found guilty in April 2023 of murder in the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, a US Air Force veteran who was shot at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin, the state capital, in July 2020.
The demonstration came amid a storm of protests across the country against racial injustice and police brutality in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May of that year.
