AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In granting a full pardon to a former Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of an armed Black Lives Matter protester, Texas’ Republican governor. Greg Abbott pushed a limited executive branch to its limits to achieve the desired outcome in a politically charged matter.
Abbott’s pardon this week of Daniel Perry, who killed Air Force veteran Garrett Foster during a 2020 demonstration in Austin, satisfied prominent conservatives who had demanded Perry’s release and angered prosecutors and the victim’s family. Among critics, Abbott’s haste to throw out the conviction also raised questions about how a governor might try to overturn a jury’s verdict in the future.
“He has stated that Texans with political views different from his and those in power can be murdered in this state with impunity,” said Whitney Mitchell, Foster’s girlfriend who was at the protest when he was killed.
Texas law limits a governor’s power to grant pardons. This can only be done with a recommendation from the Governor-appointed Board of Pardons and Paroles. Abbott, a three-term governor, has used his pardon power sparingly over the past decade, typically granting only a handful each year for low-level offenses.
Perry’s case was very different, from the severity of the crime to the politics involved.
Foster was killed amid the widespread demonstrations against police killings and racial injustice that followed the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. Perry’s conviction in 2023 led to immediate calls from state and national conservatives for a pardon for the off-duty soldier who claimed self-defense.
Abbott’s response was just as swift. Even before Perry was convicted, the governor criticized the jury that convicted him and demanded that the parole board conduct a “expeditious” review of the case.
The governor also left no doubt about his expected outcome. “I look forward to approving (a pardon) as soon as it reaches my desk,” Abbott wrote on social media.
The public release of Perry’s social media history and text messages just days later did not change Abbott’s resolve. Prosecutors used Perry’s own words — including comparing Black Lives Matter protests to animals in a zoo — to portray him as a racist who may commit violence again.
When Judge Clifford Brown sentenced Perry to 25 years in prison, he made no mention of Abbott’s call for clemency, but said from the bench that the sentence “deserves our honor and must be respected.”
Geoffrey Corn, chair of criminal justice at Texas Tech University Law School, called Abbott’s early attempt at a pardon, criticism of the jury and partisan attacks on the elected Democratic district attorney who oversaw the case a blow to public confidence in the legal system. .
“It’s almost borderline catastrophic,” Corn said. “We tell people that when someone is tried in a jurisdiction that is predominantly Democratic and you are a Republican, the result can’t be valid? And vice-versa?”
Perry, who is white, was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, when the shooting occurred. He was working as a ride-share driver and had just dropped off a customer when he drove into a street full of protesters. Foster, a 28-year-old white Air Force veteran, was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle.
Perry claimed he was trying to drive past the crowd and fired his gun when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Witnesses stated that they did not see Foster raise his weapon. Prosecutors argued that Perry could have driven away without shooting.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ self-defense laws that cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive prosecutor,” Abbott said in his pardon statement.
Still, David Kwok, director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Houston Law Center, called jury nullification an important concept in justice.
“That is the power of the jury to push back against the power of the government,” Kwok said.
Abbott had a long career in law before becoming governor. He was an attorney and a district judge before being appointed to the state Supreme Court, which decides civil cases. He was subsequently elected attorney general and served three terms.
As governor, Abbott for years used his judicial and judicial experience to make political decisions, often drawing criticism for being too deliberate and too slow, said Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University.
“Abbott has changed a lot in the last decade,” said Governor Jillson. “He has become much less legal and much more political.”
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Associated Press reporter Sean Murphy contributed from Oklahoma City.
