Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared on Saturday that he will pardon Army Sergeant Daniel Perry after his murder conviction on Friday for shooting an armed Black Lives Matter protester who allegedly pointed a gun at him in 2020.
His announced plan was backed up by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who blasted District Attorney Jose Garza as a George Soros-backed radical.
As the AG observed, “self-defense is a God-given right, not a crime. Unfortunately, the Soros-backed DA in Travis County cares more about the radical agenda of dangerous Antifa and BLM mobs than justice.”
Abbott tweeted a statement out Saturday recognizing that his state has one of the nation’s strongest “Stand Your Ground” self-defense protections. He said this fundamental liberty “cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney.”
Following Texas law, Abbott requested a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to enable him to issue the pardon.
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
It was July 25, 2020, and Perry was driving for Uber in downtown Austin to make extra money. At that time he was stationed at Fort Hood. He encountered a large group of protesters who were illegally blocking the street, according to police.
The protesters circled his car and began pounding on it. The group included 28-year-old Garrett Foster, and Perry’s defense team asserted that Foster raised his AK-47 and pointed it at Perry.
The sergeant then opened fire with the handgun he carried for self-defense.
As defense attorney Doug O’Connell said in a statement to Fox News last year, “when Garrett Foster pointed his AK-47 at Daniel Perry, Daniel had two-tenths of a second to defend himself. He chose to live.”
O’Connell noted that even though it is legal in Texas to carry such a weapon downtown, that still “doesn’t make it a good idea.” He added that if you point a firearm at another person, “you are responsible for everything that happens next.”
Perry’s murder conviction is such an obvious miscarriage of justice that it should have been expected that Abbott would step in. All across the U.S. — but especially in Texas — the right to defend oneself against clear and present danger should be and is taken extremely seriously.
