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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he is seeking clemency for a US Army sergeant convicted of murder in the fatal 2020 shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
Abbott tweeted that since the state constitution limits him to pardons only upon the recommendation of the state’s Pardons and Parole Board, he is asking the board to recommend a pardon and expedite his request for a pardon for Sgt. Daniel Berry.
“I look forward to approving the Board’s recommendation for a pardon as soon as it reaches my desk,” Abbott wrote.
A Travis Perry County jury on Friday found guilty of shooting 28-year-old Jarrett Foster during a protest in Austin. He faces life imprisonment when he is sentenced.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘stand your ground’ self-defense laws that cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive district attorney,” Abbott said.
US Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, center, and his attorney, Doug O’Connell, are seen exiting the courtroom during the jury deliberations in the Frieda murder trial. Perry was convicted of murder Friday for the 2020 shooting of Garrett Foster, an armed protester, during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he is seeking clemency for a US Army sergeant convicted of murder in the fatal 2020 shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has instructed the Pardons and Parole Board to recommend a pardon and expedite his application
US Army Sgt. Daniel Perry responds after being convicted of murder in the killing of Jarrett Foster on Friday
US Army Sgt. Daniel Berry closes his eyes and bows his head moments before his condemnation
US Army Sgt. Daniel Berry is comforted by his attorney, Doug O’Connell, after being convicted of murder in the murder of Garrett Foster
Perry killed Garrett Foster, 28, who was pictured with wife Whitney Mitchell
Garrett Foster is seen in the driver’s window. The barrel of the gun is pointed towards the ground, while his right arm is raised with his hand apparently resting on the grip of the weapon
Daniel Perry, 37-year-old Uber driver and Army sergeant, was convicted of first-degree murder
Perry’s attorneys argued that the shooting was in self-defense when Foster approached Perry’s car with an AK-47.
Prosecutors said Perry could have walked away before he fired his gun and witnesses testified that Foster did not raise his gun at Perry.
The jury deliberated 17 hours over two days to reach its decision, after an eight-day trial. He cried when the guilty verdict was read, and hugged his lawyer. Perry faces life in prison.
Perry, who was charged in 2021, was stationed at Ft. Hood was 70 miles north of Austin in July 2020 when he was working as an Uber driver and turned a street straight into a large crowd of BLM protesters in downtown Austin.
In a video streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters begin screaming and scattering.
Garrett Foster and girlfriend Whitney Mitchell at a July 2020 protest
Garrett Foster was caught on camera earlier in the evening explaining why he felt the need for an AK-47.
First responders are seen preparing to take Foster to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead in a photo taken on July 25, 2020.
Witnesses said during the trial that Foster never raised his gun at Perry.
On Friday, the jury found Perry guilty of murder, but not guilty of aggravated assault.
Perry’s defense attorneys, in their closing arguments, insisted that he had no choice but to shoot Foster five times as he approached Perry’s car with an AK-47.
Prosecutors said Perry had plenty of options, including driving away before he fired his gun.
The attorney general, Guillermo Gonzalez, said Perry’s social media posts showed he was firmly opposed to the protesters.
Berry also said that in Texas you can get away with shooting them.
“This is an old story about a man who couldn’t control his anger,” Gonzalez said. “It is not about the police or the protest marches.”
Foster was crossing Fourth Street on Congress Avenue with Mitchell and hundreds of other protesters when a motorist sped into the crowd and began honking his horn. Cell phone footage was captured at the moment the fatal shots rang out
Foster’s shooting scene in Austin, Texas, July 25, 2020
Gonzalez said Perry drove his car angrily into the crowd even though he could clearly see protesters marching from three different angles.
The state argued that Perry sped into the crowd, but that was disputed by expert defense witnesses who have used science and data to track his car’s speed. The expert testified that he was slowing down when his car entered the demonstration.
Doug O’Connell, defending Perry, said that prosecutors wanted the jury to “believe (Perry) this evil plan when he turned right.”
He said, “The demonstrators did not know anything about Berry when they attacked the car and put it in barricades.”
“And Daniel had no other choice, and it could have happened to anyone.”
Activists are pictured on July 26, 2020 as they hold a vigil for Foster, the day after he was killed.
People sit in the street at a vigil for Garrett Foster on July 26, 2020 in downtown Austin, Texas
O’Connell argued that Foster wore battle gear at the protest, including wearing a neoprene vest under his shirt and carrying an AK-47, a baton, and a knife.
Berry was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops.
“Garrett Foster is dressed for war,” O’Connell said. “Daniel Berry in a beach outfit”.
When Foster was killed, protesters in Austin and beyond had been marching the streets for weeks after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the black man’s neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, said repeatedly that he could not breathe.
Floyd’s killing was caught on video by a bystander and has sparked protests around the world as part of a broader reckoning about racial injustice.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he’s working on a “quick” pardon for a convicted murderer from Fort Hood