Former Army sergeant Daniel Perry has learned his fate after being convicted of killing Garrett Foster, a Black Lives Matter protestor who was marching in Austin, TX.
Associated Press reported Perry has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after prosecutors were successful in using his past social media accounts and text history to show him as a racist that could possibly commit violent acts again. However, his sentencing may be short-lived, as Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, is looking to pardon his sentence.
amp_ad_1 ampforwp-incontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">Shortly after his conviction, Abbott called on the state Board of Pardons and Paroles and requested them to send over Perry’s pardon recommendation. Abbott praised Texas’ “Stand Your Ground” self-defense laws, claiming Perry was targeted by a liberal prosecutor.
Once Perry’s extremely racist texts and images were made public, Abbott remained shockingly silent. One message read, “Black Lives Matter is racist to white people…It is official I am racist because I do not agree with people acting like monkeys,” according to The Austin American-Statesman.
A psychologist testified the assailant was autistic and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, however, the victim’s mother-in-law Patricia Kirven, who was present for the sentencing, spoke directly to Perry and called his actions “pure evil.”
“The decision you made was not based on PTSD and was not based on autism,” Kirven said to Perry, reported by AAS. “My son who has autism does not know how to deal with this kind of grief. You do. You hide your head and keep your eyes bowed down to the ground.”
On Jul. 25, 2020 Perry ran a red light, while working as an Uber driver, and turned into a BLM march. He claimed that Foster approached his car with a AK-47 raised to him, so he shot him five times with a handgun before driving away.