Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday pardoned a man who was sentenced last year to serve 25 years in prison for killing a protester during the 2020 mass protests against racism and disproportionate police brutality.

Daniel Perry, who served in the military, now 37 years old, and in his spare time worked as a driver for a transportation service company, was confronted by a crowd of protesters in Austin, the capital of the large state of the American South, on July 25, 2020.

Mr. Perry’s lawyers put forward the defense line that he was in lawful self-defense. They argued that he shot Garrett Foster, 28, five times with a pistol because the young man moved towards his car pointing an assault rifle at him.

The indictment instead stated that he was able to make a U-turn and that he initiated the conflict with the protester.

Both the perpetrator and the victim were white. Garrett Foster was an Air Force veteran.

Daniel Perry was sentenced on April 7, 2023 to twenty-five years in prison, but before an appeal could even be filed, Governor Abbott said he had asked for his case to be reviewed by the Texas Parole Board.

He explained that it was meant to override the law known as “Stand your ground” for self-defense, which allows anyone to use deadly force if they believe their life is in danger, even if they can avoid it. conflict.

The pardons committee announced Thursday that, after “careful consideration” of all the elements of the case, it “voted unanimously to grant a full pardon and restore the right to bear arms” of Daniel Perry.

The governor clarified in a statement released that he implemented the committee’s recommendation and praised the law, which “cannot be overturned by a jury or a progressive prosecutor.”

In the text in which he announced that he was granting a pardon, he also scolded the prosecutor [ως εφαρμόζει πολιτική «μείωσης της πρόσβασης στα όπλα».