Prosecutor seeks to overturn pardon for ex-soldier following fatal shooting

AUSTIN, Texas — A prosecutor said Tuesday he is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn the governor's pardon of a former Army sergeant who was convicted of fatal shooting a Black Lives Matter protester.

Travis County District Attorney José Garza and the family of Garrett Foster, who was killed during a protest in July 2020, called Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's full pardon of Daniel Perry a travesty of the justice system .

Garza said Tuesday that Abbott had “put politics over justice” and he pledged to use every option available to reverse the governor's decision.

“We will continue to use the legal process to achieve justice,” he said at a news conference in Austin.

The Court of Criminal Appeals is the state's highest court in criminal matters. The nine elected judges are Republicans. Garza said he believes this case is unique in state history, from the quick request for clemency and its approval to the appeals court's request for intervention.

“This is all new territory,” Garza said.

Abbott's office did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. An attorney on Perry's legal team declined to comment.

Perry was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2023 for the fatal shooting of Foster during a protest in downtown Austin.

Foster's mother, Sheila Foster, described the pardon as “absolutely unacceptable to our family.”

“We will fight this until justice is served for Garrett,” Foster said, his voice shaking with emotion. “My own child was killed on American soil for doing nothing more than exercising his First and Second Amendment rights. And our governor just said, “It doesn't matter. It is acceptable.'

Perry, who is white, was working as a rideshare driver when his car approached the protest. Prosecutors said he could have fled the confrontation with Foster, a white Air Force veteran who witnesses said never raised his gun.

A jury found Perry guilty of murder, but Abbott called the shooting self-defense, recalling Texas' “Stand Your Ground” law. Abbott ordered the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to review Perry's case and granted a full pardon last month over the objections of Foster's family and prosecutors. Perry was quickly released from prison.

Last month, 14 Democratic attorneys general from across the country said the U.S. Justice Department should investigate whether Perry denied Foster his right to free speech and peaceful protest. Garza said Tuesday he echoed that request.

A federal investigation could open Perry to federal charges. The “DOJ has historically used federal civil rights laws to prosecute acts of hate, particularly when states refuse or fail to hold individuals accountable for violating the civil rights of their fellow Americans,” the coalition said. attorneys general.

Garza said he would pursue all possible actions through the state legal system, but would welcome a federal review of the case.

“People across the country are outraged by what happened to Garrett, what happened to his family,” Garza said. “We are grateful for their request and will echo their request.”

Foster was killed amid widespread protests 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 sparked immediate calls for clemency from conservatives across the state and country.

“Throughout American history, our freedom of speech and our right to peaceful protest have been two of the most powerful tools used to combat injustice and oppression,” the attorney general said last week. of Minnesota, Keith Ellison. “Vigilante violence is unacceptable, especially when used to deprive Americans of their lives and their most fundamental freedoms. »

Perry claimed he was trying to push past the crowd and fired his pistol when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Witnesses said they did not see Foster raise his gun. Prosecutors argued that Perry could have left without shooting.

Abbott's rush to expunge the conviction also raised questions about how a governor might try to overturn a jury's verdict in the future.

After the verdict, but before Perry was sentenced, the court unsealed dozens of pages of text messages and social media posts showing he held hostile views toward the Black Lives Matter protests.

In a Facebook comment a month before the shooting, Perry wrote: “It's official, I'm racist because I don't agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.” »

Associated Press reporter Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed.