Texas Governor Greg Abbott has caused outrage after saying that he will seek to pardon a US Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester during demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice in 2020.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Gov Abbot said that he had asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite a pardon for Daniel Perry.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Perry was found guilty of fatally shooting 28-year-old Garrett Foster by a jury in Travis County on Friday.
Under Texas’s constitution, the governor can only issue a pardon on the recommendation of the board.
“I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” Abbott said in the statement.
The Texas governor has come under intense pressure from Fox News and state lawmakers to pardon Perry.
Fox host Tucker Carlson covered Perry’s conviction on his show on Friday, and said that he had invited Mr Abbott to discuss the conviction.
“Apparently the State of Texas no longer recognises the right of self-defense,” Mr Carlson said.
Less than a day later, Mr Abbott announced that he would seek to pardon Perry.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Mr Abbott said.
The move to rescind Perry’s murder conviction drew widespread condemnation.
“Absolutely insane,” Democratic strategist, Sawyer Hackett, wrote on Twitter.
“Here is Tucker Carlson last night shaming Greg Abbott for not pardoning Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murder yesterday for shooting a BLM protestor,” Mr Hackett added. “24 hours later Abbott says he’s working to pardon Perry. Unbelievable.”
Political consultant Jamison Foser tweeted that “any journalist who ever again refers to Greg Abbott (or any Republican who supports this pardon) as ‘tough on crime’ is a propagandist on behalf of a political movement that intentionally uses violence and threats of violence to seize power.”
Keith Boykin, a White House aide under Bill Clinton, wrote: “‘Law and order’ is a lie. It’s open season for racism in America.”
Perry, 37, was working as an Uber driver in Austin, Texas on the night of the fatal shooting on 25 July 2020.
He drove his car into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters and honked his horn, according to The Texas Tribune.
Mr Foster, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran, was openly carrying an AK-47, which was legal under Texas law.
Perry’s defense attorneys had claimed in court that the shooting was self-defense as the victim had approached his car, The Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors argued that Perry, who was also armed, could have left the scene before firing his revolver. Witnesses testified that Mr Foster never raised his rifle at Perry, according to AP.
The court heard that Perry had threatened to kill protesters in social media posts and messages to friends prior to the fatal shooting.
“I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex,” Perry wrote to a friend in June 2020.
