Army sergeant sentenced to 25 years in Black Lives Matter death
Daniel Perry, a US Army sergeant stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, was found guilty of murder in a 2020 shooting.
A Texas state court on Wednesday sentenced a US Army sergeant to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a Black Lives Matter protester last month.
The legal team of 36-year-old Daniel Perry has already announced that he will appeal the verdict of Judge Cliff Brown of the 147th Criminal District Court.
But the 25-year sentence provides the basis for Republican Governor Greg Abbott to live up to his comments that he promised to pardon the army sergeant, who claimed to have acted in self-defense.
Perry was convicted of murder in the shooting of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, a U.S. Air Force veteran who demonstrated at a Black Lives Matter rally in the state capital of Austin on July 25, 2020. Both Foster and Perry are white.
The protest came in the wake of several high-profile incidents of police brutality against black Americans, including Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead during a botched raid on her Kentucky apartment, and George Floyd, who died after an officer knelt on his neck. for nearly nine minutes.
“After three long years, we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Sheila Foster, the victim’s mother, told the courtroom after Perry was convicted. In her comments, she addressed Perry directly: “I pray to God that one day he will get rid of all this hatred in your heart.”
The day before Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Perry had made and shared racist comments online and via text message.
In one such post, Perry addressed reports of looting during the Black Lives Matter protests by saying, “I might go to Dallas and shoot looters.”
“This man is a loaded gun, ready to go off at any perceived threat,” prosecutor Guillermo Gonzalez told the court as he pushed for a minimum sentence of 25 years. “He’s going to do it again.”
Perry’s legal team, meanwhile, argued that the messages, while “abhorrent”, were protected speech and had been taken out of context. Attorney Clinton Broden also called the case an example of “political persecution”.
He called on Perry to serve no more than 10 years in prison, as the army sergeant reportedly feared for his life. The defense has maintained that Foster aimed his legal AK-47 at Perry during the rally.
“As part of the appeal, we will be able to focus on the evidence that was withheld from both the grand jury and the trial jury,” Broden said in a statement.
In a statement before Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Brown addressed questions of political bias in court and affirmed that Perry had received a “fair and impartial trial.” He added that the jury’s verdict “deserves to be respected”.
But the case has received national attention in the US, especially among conservatives, with Governor Abbott announcing in April that he would pursue a pardon for Perry.
“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 wrote on Twitter, referring to the prosecution team led by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza , a Democrat.
In Texas, a governor can only grant a pardon on the recommendation of the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles. Abbott said he asked the board to make that recommendation.
Meanwhile, Garza has accused Abbott of “bringing politics into this case.” He said his prosecutors would bring a case against the pardon to the board of directors.