Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, United States, has issued a full pardon to Daniel Perry, a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed ‘Black Lives Matter’ demonstrator during the 2020 nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
The pardon was announced shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles disclosed its unanimous recommendation that Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Perry has been held in state prison, serving a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.
Governor Abbott, a Republican, had previously instructed the board to review Perry’s case and indicated that he would sign a pardon if recommended. Following the board’s unanimous recommendation, posted on the agency’s website, Abbott swiftly issued the pardon.
Perry was convicted by a jury in Austin for the murder of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an air force veteran who was legally carrying an AK-47 while participating in a Black Lives Matter protest. Perry, working as a ride-share driver in July 2020, turned his car onto a street crowded with demonstrators and shot Foster before driving away.
The shooting was among at least 25 killings that occurred during political protests and unrest in 2020, amidst thousands of predominantly peaceful demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. Perry’s case became a rallying point for conservatives, who urged the governor to ensure his release.
Court records released in April revealed that in the weeks leading up to the murder, Perry had sent racist messages about protesters, shared white supremacist memes, and discussed possibly needing to kill people demonstrating outside his house. A 76-page filing containing Perry’s private and public communications showed he compared the Black Lives Matter movement to “a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their shit.”
Abbott’s demand for a review of Perry’s case came after pressure from far-right former Fox News star Tucker Carlson. Carlson, on national television, urged the Republican governor to intervene following Perry’s conviction at trial in April 2022. Carlson, while still a top-rated host, dedicated a segment to challenging Abbott to appear on his show and discuss pardoning Perry, calling the case a “legal atrocity” blamed on progressive prosecutors. Abbott announced the review of Perry’s conviction the next day.
Carlson and right-wing groups similarly championed Kyle Rittenhouse, who in 2020 drove to a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin, where he shot and killed two protesters. Rittenhouse was found not guilty of murder after claiming self-defence and has since become a pro-gun advocate and minor celebrity on the conservative speaker circuit.
Abbott praised the board’s recommendation to pardon Perry, highlighting Texas’s “stand your ground” self-defence laws.