Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeks pardon for man convicted in murder of Black Lives Matter protester

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April 10, 2023

By Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News

Daniel Perry walks into the courtroom moments before he was convicted of murder in the July 2020 shooting death of Garrett Foster at a Black Lives Matter protest (Jay Janner, USA Today)

Garrett Foster, 28, was pushing his fiancee in a wheelchair during the protest when police say Perry’s car was surrounded by protesters. Foster, who was carrying an AK-47-type rifle, approached Perry’s car when he was shot several times by Perry, according to police. Open carry is legal in Texas.

[…]

Abbott slammed both the jury’s decision to convict Perry and Travis County District Attorney José Garza for pursuing the case.

“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,” Abbott said in an online statement. He said the Texas Constitution limits his pardon authority to the cases recommended by the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He said he requested the Board of Pardons and Paroles to take up Perry’s case and determine if he should be granted a pardon.

[…]

District Attorney Garza fired back, arguing, “in a state that believes in upholding the importance of the rule of law, the Governor’s statement that he will intervene in the legal proceedings surrounding the death of Garrett Foster is deeply troubling,” he said in a statement sent to ABC News.

Find the rest of the article here.

Read another article about gun violence here.

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