Army sergeant who shot and killed BLM protester is sentenced to lengthy prison term

A Texas man who shot and killed an armed Black Lives Matter protester almost three years ago was sentenced to 25 years in prison this Wednesday, NBC News reported.

Last month, U.S. Army sergeant Daniel Perry, 35, was convicted in the fatal shooting of Garrett Foster in downtown Austin in July 2020.

Police said Perry honked at the protesters and drove into the crowd trying to get through.

Foster was carrying an AK-47 with him as he approached Perry's car before he was shot by Perry with a handgun.

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The jury heard conflicting testimony as to whether Foster pointed the AK-47, but Perry, who is also white, said he feared for his life and opened fire with a handgun he was legally carrying.

The protest in Austin where Foster was killed was in regards to the police killing of George Floyd.

Perry was found guilty of murder but was found not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The day after the jury returned its verdict, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he wanted to pardon Perry, saying that Texas has a strong "stand your ground" self-defense law. Abbott accused the prosecutors in the case of being a progressive.

"I look forward to approving the Board's pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk," Abbott said in a statement on Twitter. Under Texas law, he said, he needs such a recommendation before acting.

While Texas Republicans praised Abbott's decision, a Democratic state legislator, Sarah Eckhardt, called it "a stunning and dangerous abrogation of the rule of law that will embolden more armed confrontations and inevitable tragedies."

With additional reporting by AFP