Last week, Texas Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was found guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of BLM protester Garrett Foster. Now, in the wake of reports that Texas Gov, Greg Abbott is working "swiftly" on a pardon for Perry, Foster's father is speaking out, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Perry has said he was driving through capital city Austin when he turned into a street full of demonstrators protesting in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Police said Perry honked at the protesters and drove into the crowd trying to get through.
Foster, a 28-year-old white man, was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle.
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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.
After a 12-person jury found Perry guilty of murder, Foster's father, Steve Foster, recalled, “I thought we had closure, this is the end."
But a day after Perry’s guilty verdict, Gov. Abbott tweeted that he was “working as swiftly as Texas law allows” to pardon Perry. "Texas has one of the strongest 'Stand Your Ground' laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive District Attorney," he said in his statement.
“The governor saying that he’s going to pardon without even looking at the evidence? That’s 100% political; that’s not him saying I think this guy is innocent, that’s just him saying I need my voters to support me so I’m gonna pardon this guy,” Steve Foster told the Dallas Morning News.
In a statement Sunday, Travis County District Attorney José Garza described Abbott’s message as “deeply troubling."
“After hearing from civilian eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, and deliberating for over fifteen hours, they reached the unanimous decision that Daniel Perry did not kill Garrett Foster in self-defense and was guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt,” Garza wrote. “In our legal system, a jury gets to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent — not the Governor.”
Foster says he's waiting to see how things develop after Abbott's comments.
“I love my government, I love my country, I love police officers and I do trust our justice system,” Foster said. “I know they get it wrong sometimes.”
Documents unsealed this week revealed that Perry talked about killing protesters, who he referred to as "monkeys," on social media.
With additional reporting by AFP
