A few weeks ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott granted a pardon to Daniel Perry, a white man convicted in the fatal shooting of a Black Lives Matter protester, almost immediately after he received his prison sentence. And let me tell you… prosecutors ain’t having it.
Abbott requested an investigation into Perry’s trial before it was even over. Prosecutors accused Perry of the murder of BLM demonstrator Garrett Foster back in July 2020. Perry maintained that Foster pointed a gun at him. However, a slew of racist social media posts suggested to the jury Perry just had random smoke for anyone following BLM, leading to a guilty verdict.
Following the probe, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously to pardon Perry, releasing him from his 25-year prison sentence (after only serving barely one year) and also restoring his firearms rights. The consensus was that he should have been exonerated under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
Flack came from all directions following the decision, including a letter written from 14 attorney generals across the country to the Department of Justice requesting a probe into whether Perry violated Perry’s civil rights.
“When states fail to protect their residents from such violations of our civil rights, it’s imperative that DOJ steps in and ensures that justice is served. We urge the DOJ to investigate this incident and demonstrate that this will not be tolerated in America,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced Tuesday his office will request a writ of mandamus from the state Court of Criminal Appeals to have the pardon overturned, per the Texas Tribune. He argued the governor interfered with lower court rulings in the case and that Perry’s case didn’t even meet the criteria to justify a pardon. Garza also wishes to argue the case against the pardon in front of the court.
“Not only did he circumvent the process for pardons, he exceeded his authority and violated the separation of powers doctrine,” the prosecutor said about Abbott, via NBC News.