Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider recommending a clemency for Daniel Perry Saturday, a day after a Travis County jury convicted the US Army sergeant of the murder in 2020 from Austin protester Garrett Foster.
After 17 hours of deliberations and an eight-day trial, jurors on Friday found Perry guilty of murder for shooting and killing Foster, who was armed with an AK-47 as part of a group protesting police brutality. Perry, an Uber driver, had encountered the protest a few blocks from the Capitol in Downtown Austin.
Under pressure from conservatives, Abbott announced Saturday that he had asked the Parole Board to review Perry’s conviction on an expedited basis. The Texas Constitution, he said, requires the Parole Board to recommend a clemency before a governor can act.
“I look forward to approving the Board’s clemency recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” Abbott said in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ self-defense laws that cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive district attorney,” Abbott added, echoing conservative criticism leveled at the Democratic Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza.
Before Abbott’s announcement, the Texas Republican Party asked the governor to get involved.
“This case should never have been prosecuted. A pardon from (Abbott) is required,” Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi wrote in a post Friday night on Twitter.
Tucker Carlson, a conservative Fox News commentator, covered Perry’s conviction on his show Friday night. Carlson said he had invited Abbott to discuss whether he was considering pardoning Perry, but said the governor declined.
“So that’s the position of Greg Abbott, there’s no such thing as a right to self-defense in Texas,” Carlson told his viewers.
Based on the Parole Board’s recommendations, Abbott granted two pardons in 2022, eight in 2021, and seven in 2020, all for lesser-level offenses, including robbery, providing alcohol to a minor, assault by contact, theft of a vehicle , credit card abuse and illegal possession of a firearm.
Perry, found guilty of murder but not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, killed Foster during a protest against police brutality on July 25, one of many that occurred across the country after George Floyd, a man African American, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.
According to Austin Police, Perry was driving for Uber when he stopped his car and honked at protesters as they walked down the street. Seconds later, she drove his car into the crowd, police said.
Foster, who was a 28-year-old white male and Air Force veteran, had been seen openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time, which was legal. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster raised the rifle toward the driver before Perry, who was also legally armed, shot and killed Foster and fled the area, police said. He called police and reported what happened, claiming that he fired in self-defense after Foster pointed his gun at him. Perry is also a white man.
Perry’s defense argued that the shooting was justified under the state’s “Stand your ground” law, which allows for the use of deadly force by those who feel they are in danger.
Perry’s earlier social media posts about retaliation against protesters raised questions about the shooter’s state of mind and his claim of self-defense.
In his announcement, Abbott also promoted legislation that seeks to take control away from locally elected prosecutors whom he described as “rogue.”
A bill aimed at reining in district attorneys who refuse to pursue certain cases passed the Senate on Wednesday. The bill, a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of an effort to limit the power of elected prosecutors, especially in Texas’ largest left-wing counties.
