A progressive Texas prosecutor plans to file a request to overturn a pardon granted by Governor Greg Abbott to a former Army soldier who shot and killed a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protester during a 2020 demonstration .
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said his office will file a petition for mandamus with the Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate the pardon granted to Daniel Perry.
“Three weeks ago, on May 16, the Pardon and Parole Board and the Governor put politics over justice and made a mockery of our legal system and for that they should be ashamed of themselves- same,” Garza said at a news conference to announce the move. “Their actions were against the law.”
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Daniel Perry enters the courtroom at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott, right, pardoned Perry last month for the killing of a Black Lives Matter protester. (AP; Getty Images)
“We will ask the courts to intervene to restore the sanctity of the rule of law in this great state,” he added.
Abbott granted Perry a full pardon, following his conviction last year for the death of Garrett Foster, a BLM protester and Air Force veteran, in downtown Austin during a protest in 2020. Foster was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time of the July 2020 incident.
Perry was stationed at what was then Fort Hood, about 70 miles north of Austin, when the shooting occurred. He had just dropped off a rideshare customer and was walking onto a street filled with protesters. He said 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, and prosecutors argued Perry could have left without firing. Perry was ultimately convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
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Travis County Prosecutor Jose Garza, right, said he plans to ask a court to reject a pardon for Daniel Perry following his conviction for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin, Texas in 2020. (PA)
Holly Taylor, director of public integrity and complex crimes, said that in granting the pardon, Abbott had circumvented his authority and “violated the doctrine of separation of powers.”
“It was planned, it was premeditated and the very next day the governor announced his intention to pardon and now here we are, he did it, and I don't agree with that and no one should be OK with that,” Foster said. mother Shiela Foster.
Fox News Digital has contacted Perry's attorney and Abbott's office.
Garza has gained a reputation for taking progressive positions regarding the criminal justice system. In 2021, local media reported that his office dismissed criminal charges, including violent offenses, against some suspects before they could meet with a judge.
Garrett Foster was fatally shot in 2020 during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas. (KTBC)
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Perry's attorney, Doug O'Connell, told Fox 7 Austin that Garza's attempt to overturn the pardon was more “political theater.”
“The pardon power of the executive branch is a well-established constitutional authority,” he said. “I am skeptical that Ms. Taylor, who was recently sanctioned in a Travis County court for violating the Michael Morton (concealment of evidence) Act, will convince the Court of Criminal Appeals with a new theory challenging the Constitution of Texas.”