After prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to paint him as a racist who may conduct violence again, a U.S. Army sergeant who fatally sh*t an armed protester at a Black Lives Matter march in Texas was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday.
The case will now likely need a difficult decision from Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has stated his desire to grant a prompt pardon in light of Daniel Perry’s sentence.
Perry was found guilty in April of ki!!ing Garrett Foster at the Austin march in July 2020. Shortly after Perry’s conviction, Abbott asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend Perry be given a pardon.
Abbott claimed a liberal prosecutor mistreated Perry and praised Texas’ strict Stand Your Ground laws for self-defense. Since then, the governor has remained mute while Perry’s text and internet posting history, which included brutally racist images, has come to light. An inquiry to Abbott’s office about the punishment and whether he still plans to grant a pardon went unanswered. Perry, 36, faced a maximum sentence of life in ja!l.
Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University, claimed Abbott acted prematurely in making the pardon request.
“Abbott clearly boxed himself into a corner,” when he appeared to respond to criticism from conservative former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who demanded the governor act, Jones said.
Jones opined that Abbott would have held off on promising to pardon him if he had known everything he knows now. The Abbott-appointed Pardons and Parole board is currently examining Perry’s case. According to state law, the governor cannot grant a pardon unless the board recommends it.
The case has become politically charged since it arose during intense protests against racial injustice and police ki!!ings of Black people, George Floyd, who a white Minneapolis police officer ki!!ed.
On Wednesday, Perry’s legal team referred to the case as a “political prosecution” and the publication of the texts and social media posts as “character assassination.”
According to attorney Clinton Broden, the defense team would pursue both a pardon and a typical appeal through the legal system.
“Those who claim that Governor Abbott’s expressed intent is based on politics simply choose to ignore the fact that it was only the political machinations of a rogue district attorney which led to Sgt. Perry’s prosecution,” he said.
Jose Garza, the district attorney for Travis County, claimed Abbott was the one “who decided to insert politics in this case.” Garza claimed that the parole board had informed him that in Perry’s case, he and Foster’s family would be given the opportunity to address the board. Perry had a fair trial, state District Judge Clifford Brown remarked in a brief speech prior to sentencing. The jury’s decision “deserves our honor and it deserves to be respected,” Brown said, omitting to mention the prospective pardon. You also look at some recent news about 3-Year-Old Girl Fatally Sh**ts 4-Year-Old Sister in Texas
Perry, a white man, was working at Fort Hood, which is located roughly 70 miles north of Austin, at the time of the incident. He had just dropped off a passenger while driving for a ride-sharing company when he turned down a crowded street with demonstrators. Foster, a 28-year-old white veteran of the Air Force, was lawfully in possession of an AK-47 weapon.
Fifty Shades Of Whey tweeted that
An army sergeant in Texas who killed a BLM protester has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Daniel Perry, 35, fatally shot Garrett Foster, 28, at an Austin, Texas racial justice rally following the murder of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/I9FeYfZLZa
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) May 10, 2023
Perry said that he discharged his pistol in self-defense while trying to drive through the mob after Foster pointed a weapon at him. Witnesses claimed that they did not see Foster lift his weapon, and the prosecution contended that Perry was not required to sh**t because he could have driven away.
Among Perry’s statements introduced Tuesday, he wrote on Facebook a month before the sh**ting: “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.”
Sadly, Floyd passed away on May 25, 2020. Several days later, as demonstrations erupted, Perry texted a friend, saying, “I might go to Dallas to sh**t looters.” You can also search the latest news about Ted Cruz Faces Criticism After Texas Mall Massacre Ki!!s Eight
When Perry shot and ki!!ed Foster, he was with his Black wheelchair-using girlfriend, Whitney Mitchell. Foster’s family and Mitchell were present in the courtroom on Wednesday for the sentencing hearing.
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