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(CNN) A U.S. Army sergeant convicted of killing a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally is expected to be sentenced Tuesday morning despite the Texas governor’s announced plans for a pardon.
Daniel Perry shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster in July 2020 at a racial justice rally in Austin following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Perry and Foster are white.
According to prosecutors, Perry, who was stationed in Fort Hood and earned extra income as a ride-share driver, started the encounter by ignoring red lights and turning his vehicle into a crowd of protesters. Foster, openly carrying an assault rifle, approached Perry’s car and signaled him to roll down the window, at which point Perry fatally shot him, prosecutors said.
Perry’s defense team argued that his actions were justified as self-defense.
A jury found Perry guilty of murder but not guilty of the charge of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon, and the charge of lethal conduct is still pending.
Shortly after Perry’s April 7 conviction, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he wanted to pardon Perry and asked the state’s pardon and parole board to expedite a review of the case before sentencing. I made an unusual request.
“Texas has the strongest ‘stand your ground’ laws that cannot be overridden by a jury or a progressive district attorney,” the governor said. statement on twitter.
According to Texas law, the governor can only pardon Perry when recommended by the Pardon and Parole Board.
“The board will begin its investigation immediately,” and will report to the governor with recommendations when it is complete, board spokesperson Rachel Alderete said at Abbott’s request. did not reveal.
Perry made comments on social media about killing protesters, documents show
Garrett Foster (left), pictured with fiancée Whitney Mitchell, was shot dead during a Black Lives Matter protest in July 2020.
Documents related to the case, unsealed by a Travis County judge following Perry’s conviction, show Perry’s years of racist comments in messages and social media posts. is shown.
In a May 2020 Facebook message just weeks before the shooting, Perry told a friend that he “might have to kill a few people” who were rioting outside his apartment.
The documents also include a May 2020 text sent by Perry that said, “Maybe I’ll go to Dallas to shoot looters.” Some messages included a “white power” meme. rice field.
In a 2019 message, Perry wrote, “It’s a shame we don’t get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.”
In a social media comment on June 1, 2020, Perry likened the Black Lives Matter movement to a “zoo full of monkeys hurling their own shit and startling,” documents show.
Perry’s attorney, Clint Broden, criticized the release of the documents in a statement to CNN, calling it a political decision by prosecutors.
Broden said Foster also had posts on social media advocating violence and supporting riots, most of which could not be published due to Texas discovery rules.
However, some posts have been made public, including one praising the 2020 Minneapolis Police Department burn down.
CNN reached out to the governor’s office for comment on the social media post. Attorneys for the Foster family declined to comment on the unsealed documents.
CNN’s Rosa Flores, Andy Rose, and Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.
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