The Texas governor's pardon of a former Army sergeant who fatally shot a Black Lives Matter demonstrator undermines the state's legal system and constitution and should be reversed, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Daniel Perry shot and killed Garrett Foster during a protest in downtown Austin in July 2020. Perry was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2023, prompting immediate calls for a pardon from conservative figures. Abbott issued the pardon last month and Perry was quickly released from prison.
Perry, a white ride-share driver, claimed he was trying to drive past the crowd and fired his pistol when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Witnesses said Foster, a white Air Force veteran, never raised his gun. Prosecutors argued that Perry could have driven away without shooting. The "DOJ has historically used federal civil-rights laws to prosecute acts of hate, especially when states refuse or fail to hold people accountable for violating their fellow Americans' civil rights," the coalition of attorneys general said.
Foster was killed amid the widespread demonstrations against police killings and racial injustice that followed the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »