willknots

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday he is seeking the pardon of an Uber driver convicted of murder a day earlier in the July 2020 shooting death of a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, the state capital.

Abbott, in a post on Twitter, said he will pardon Daniel Perry, 37, a U.S. Army sergeant, as soon as a request from the parole board "hits my desk."

The Republican Governor noted that he can grant pardons only on the recommendation of the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles, but that he is allowed to request pardons.

The case hinged on whether the shooting was in self-defense. A jury found on Friday that Perry, who is white, shot and killed Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old white man, who was carrying an AK-47, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

Perry was driving in the city the night of the shooting and turned his Uber vehicle onto a street where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching, according to media. Perry stopped, and several protesters including Foster approached his vehicle. Protesters told police that they feared they were being assaulted with the vehicle, according to media accounts.

Perry's defense team claimed the weapon was leveled at him and he had no choice but to fire his pistol in self-defense, the newspaper reported. Neither of Perry's attorneys was immediately available for comment by phone or email.

Perry was convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for 17 hours in the eight-day trial, according to media accounts.

“I will work as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” Abbott wrote on Twitter.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand your ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive district attorney," he said. "Additionally, I have already prioritized reining in rogue District Attorneys, and the Texas Legislature is working on laws to achieve that goal."

Jose Garza, the district attorney for Travis County, where the case was tried and where Austin is located, is a Democrat, and has been in office since Jan. 1, 2021.

When the verdict was read, Perry buried his head into the chest of one of his lawyers and sobbed, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

“We’re happy with the verdict. We’re very sorry for his family as well. There’s no winners in this,” said Stephen Foster, the victim’s father, according to the newspaper.

Perry faces life in prison and is due to be sentenced by State District Court Judge Clifford Brown on Tuesday, according to online court records for the 147th District Court in Travis County, Texas.

[autisticadvocacy]

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Robert Roberson’s clemency request. He is scheduled to be executed tonight, 10/17.

Governor Abbot of Texas must grant a reprieve to stop the execution. Please call Governor Abbot at 361-264-9653 to ask for a reprieve for Robert Roberson.

[odinsblog]

“Covid, pregnant women bleeding out, submerged wire on the border, psychos with guns – if people are needlessly suffering and dying in Texas, Greg Abbott is always there to throw the full weight of his office in support of whatever is killing them.” —Matt Hinton

More than a year after a Travis County jury convicted Daniel Perry of murdering a protester in Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned the former U.S. Army sergeant on Thursday shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended a full pardon.

A Texas state district court judge sentenced Perry in May 2023 to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing U.S. Air Force veteran Garrett Foster during a 2020 demonstration protesting police brutality against people of color.

One day after a jury convicted Perry, Abbott directed the parole board to review the former U.S. Army sergeant’s case.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles announced their recommendation on Thursday, stating that their decision came after a “meticulous review of pertinent documents, from police reports to court records, witness statements, and interviews with individuals linked to the case.” Governor Abbott quickly approved the recommendation, emphasizing Texas’ strong “Stand Your Ground” laws in his statement. “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,” Abbott said. “I thank the Board for its thorough investigation, and I approve their pardon recommendation.”

Abbott approved the board’s recommendation, which included restoration of Perry’s firearm rights.

(continue reading)

[politicalprof]

Apparently, it is okay in Texas for one man, armed and in public, to kill another man, who was also armed and in public … at least if the dead guy was a BLM supporter.

Because guns make us safe and free, dammit!

[allthegeopolitics]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has granted a full pardon to a former US Army sergeant and Uber driver who was jailed for 25 years for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020. Abbott, a Republican, in his pardon proclamation, cited the state’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defence law, one of the strongest such measures in the United States. The announcement came shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously recommended a pardon for Daniel Perry and restoration of his firearm rights following an investigation that the board conducted at the governor’s request.

Continue Reading

[corporationsarepeople]

This pardon demonstrates two issues very clearly:

Black lives do not matter to Governor Abbott. The killer was a racist intent on killing a protester, and that’s exactly what he did.

Stand Your Ground laws are intended by their supporters to protect premeditated killers. The determining factor in rulings of this type is usually whether or not the victim died, if not simply race. Dead victims cannot argue in their own defense, leaving shooters with the ability to claim they were the only ones present who feared for their life.

Both issues are at play here. The shooter, who had a history of racist rhetoric, drove into the crowd of protesters specifically to cause injury. When he was confronted by the anger of people he tried to injure, he shot one of them, and later claimed self defense.

This was a ludicrous claim, and a jury understood just how ludicrous it was. Abbott and the pardons board, on the other hand, were determined to show us that the Texas Stand Your Ground law exists to protect cowards with guns, who deliberately seek out fights.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

William Melhado at The Texas Tribune:

More than a year after a Travis County jury convicted Daniel Perry of murdering a protester in Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Perry, 37, on Thursday shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended a full pardon.

A Texas state district court judge sentenced Perry in May 2023 to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing U.S. Air Force veteran Garrett Foster during a 2020 demonstration protesting police brutality against people of color. One day after a jury convicted Perry, Abbott directed the parole board to review the former U.S. Army sergeant’s case. “Among the voluminous files reviewed by the Board, they considered information provided by the Travis County District Attorney, the full investigative report on Daniel Perry, plus a review of all the testimony provided at trial,” Abbott said in a statement announcing the proclamation that absolved 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.”

Abbott approved the board’s recommendation, which included restoration of Perry’s firearm rights. Whitney Mitchell, Foster's common-law wife, said that she had expected to grow old with Foster before Perry murdered him. In a Thursday statement, she said Abbott's pardon made Texans less safe. “Daniel Perry texted his friends about plans to murder a protester he disagreed with. After a lengthy trial, with an abundance of evidence, 12 impartial Texans determined that he carried out that plan, and murdered my Garrett,” Mitchell said. “With this pardon, the Governor has desecrated the life of a murdered Texan and US Air Force veteran, and impugned that jury’s just verdict. He has declared that Texans who hold political views that are different from his — and different from those in power — can be killed in this State with impunity.”

[...] Perry was driving for Uber at the time he encountered protesters a few blocks from the Capitol in downtown Austin. He stopped his car and honked at protesters as they walked through the street. Seconds later, he drove his car into the crowd, Austin police said. Foster was openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time and during the trial, each side presented conflicting accounts as to whether the protester raised the gun to Perry who was also legally armed. Perry shot Foster and then fled the area, police said. He then called police and reported what happened, claiming he shot in self-defense after Foster aimed his weapon at him.

[...] Abbott rarely issues pardons, which the board must recommend before the governor can act. Abbott granted three pardons in 2023, two pardons in 2022 and eight in 2021 — most for lower-level offenses. Shortly after Perry’s conviction, unsealed court documents revealed he had made a slew of racist, threatening comments about protesters in text messages and social media posts. Days after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer prompted nationwide protests, Perry sent a text message saying, “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.” Both Perry and Foster are white. Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, also sent racist and anti-Muslim messages before and after Floyd’s death. In April 2020, he sent a meme, which included a photo of a woman holding her child’s head under water in the bath, with the text, “WHEN YOUR DAUGHTERS FIRST CRUSH IS A LITTLE NEGRO BOY,” according to the state’s filing.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) made a politically-motivated pardon of racist murderer Daniel Perry, who killed Garrett Wolfe at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.

See Also:

The Guardian: Texas governor pardons man who killed Black Lives Matter protester in 2020

[ryanthedemiboy]

VOTE. This man was voted in. Keep more men like him from being in power by voting.

Plain text description of the pardon is below.

Official document with the state of Texas official foil on it. It says:

"Whereas, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has recommended a Full Pardon and Restoration of Full Civil Rights of Citizenship;

Now, therefore, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas, by virtue of the authority vested in me under the Constitution and laws of this State, and acting upon the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, do hereby grant unto the said: Daniel Scott Perry a full pardon and restoration of full civil rights of citizenship that may have heretofore been lost as a result of his conviction of the offense above set out in cause no. D-1-DC-21-900007, 147th judicial district court, Travis County, Texas.

I hereby direct that a copy of this proclamation be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State ot be affixed hereon, this the 16th day of May, 2024. "

Then his signature, printed name, and position (Governor). /end description

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Tayo Bero

This month, the Texas state parole board unanimously recommended the pardon and release of convicted killer and former US army sergeant Daniel Perry, along with the restoration of his firearm rights. Perry had been working as an Uber driver in July 2020 when he shot and killed Garrett Foster, a white man who was attending a Black Lives Matter protest with his Black fiancee. Perry was later indicted for murder, tried, convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison by an Austin jury.

Almost a year from the date of his sentencing, Perry’s pardon was granted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and he now walks free. As terrifying as the initial incident was, this pardon sends a chilling message: that politically motivated killing is OK, and that politicians are more focused on pandering to political pressure than protecting people’s lives.

During Perry’s trial, it emerged that in the weeks before he killed Foster, he had shared white-supremacist memes and talked about how he “might have to kill a few people” who were demonstrating outside his house in 2020. He also compared the Black Lives Matter movement to “a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their shit”. And days into nationwide protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, Perry sent a text message saying: “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”

Perry described shooting Foster as an act of self-defense. Yet according to trial testimony about the day Foster died, Perry had seen the predominantly Black group of protesters gathered across the street from him, ran a red light and drove his car right into the middle of the protest. When Foster – who was legally carrying a firearm but had not, according to some eyewitnesses, threatened Perry – approached Perry’s car, he shot him dead and sped away.

In rehashing this horrendous incident, the question on my mind is: how do you justify “pardoning” a person like this? Condemning Perry’s release isn’t about believing in carcerality or wanting to keep people in prisons, mind you; it’s about how we get to this point as a society, whom we grant permission to kill, and how we treat the people involved in a tragedy like this in its aftermath.

Abbott – who rarely issues pardons, and has generally only pardoned low-level, nonviolent offenders – had faced pressure from conservative media figures to grant Perry one. Rightwing pundits like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and even Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi squeezed him publicly about Perry’s conviction. It doesn’t seem like Abbott needed much convincing, though, seeing as he directed the parole board to review Perry’s case just one day after he was convicted.

There’s also the question of how we got here. Foster’s death and his killer’s subsequent pardon are the direct result of a government that’s more beholden to wealthy gun lobbyists than concerned with commonsense legislation that literally saves lives. Foster’s death was, in part, the result of a tragic meeting of Texas’s notoriously loose stand-your-ground self-defense laws, which Perry’s supporters claim he was upholding when he shot Foster, and the state’s “open carry” laws, which Foster was legally exercising when he had his rifle slung over his shoulder during the protest.

Alan Bean, the executive director of the Texas-based civil rights advocacy group Friends of Justice, summed up the implications of Perry’s case succinctly.

“If one guy with a gun feels threatened by another guy with a gun, murder is permissible. If both men felt threatened, the resulting tragedy would technically be ruled a no-fault double-homicide,” he wrote after news of the pardon went public.

Even Texas police aren’t blind to the ways that open-carry laws are exceptionally dangerous and nonsensical. “We were completely opposed to ‘license to carry’ because anytime there’s more guns, there’s a problem,” Ray Hunt, executive director of the Houston police officers’ union, said back in 2021.

If there was any doubt that Abbott doesn’t care how problematic these laws are, even after what happened to Foster, consider that he used his pardon announcement to reaffirm that “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”.

These are scary words to hear from your elected official after a tragedy that could have been avoided with better gun laws. Abbott continues to signal to gun-toting rightwingers that they can go around murdering people they don’t agree with, and that they will have the full force of the law to back them up.

Foster’s mother, Sheila, spoke to the New York Times after the pardon, and her words are haunting in their truth. “It doesn’t make sense,” she said over the phone. “It seems like this is some kind of a political circus and it’s costing me my life.”

[follow-up-news]

Texas is preparing to put a man to death Thursday in what would be the nation’s first execution involving a case of “shaken baby syndrome,” a diagnosis that has been re-evaluated in more recent years, leading to the overturning of similar convictions. Robert Roberson, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. local time at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, has maintained his innocence after his 2-year-old daughter died in 2002. The execution could still be delayed if either Gov. Greg Abbott grants his legal team’s request for a 30-day reprieve or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously declined to recommend clemency to Abbott, who has the authority to commute death sentences. The board did not immediately explain why it came to that decision, and Abbott has not shared publicly what he might do.

[ariadneskies]

Stop scrolling. This is an emergency. Texas has set Innocence Project client Robert Roberson’s execution for Oct. 17, for a crime that never even occurred.

In September, we learned that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Robert’s appeal and motion to stay his Oct. 17 execution for a crime that never occurred. This decision was made despite the new medical and scientific evidence that proves Robert’s daughter, Nikki, died of natural causes, not from any inflicted injury, let alone a homicide.

Robert could be the first person executed in the U.S. based on the debunked “shaken baby syndrome” on Oct. 17.

Robert’s fate now rests with Gov. Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, there is still hope to prevent this irreversible mistake.

You can help by texting “ROBERT” to 97016 to join his advocacy team, signing his petition, and calling Gov. Abbott at 361-264-9653. Your voice matters— let’s act now to help save an innocent life.

[jesseleelazyblog]

Texas is going through with an unethical execution

which is pretty par for the course for the US as a whole but i digress.

On October 10, Texas is set to execute Jedidiah Murphy, and man whose trial was marked by the use of warped evidence. He also had DID, PTSD, and depression, which don't excuse his actions but it is supposedly unconstitutional to execute severely mentally ill prisoners. Murphy is remorsefully for his actions and has been a model prisoner.

You can read more about the details of his case and exactly why this execution is so flawed in the links below, but CW for discussions of child abuse, violence, drug use, and CSA.

Here are the petitions to stop his execution:

And if you live in texas you can contact the governor's office and the pardon and parole board with this fill in form

https://catholicsmobilizing.org/action/2023-09/stop-execution-jedidiah-murphy

or using this information from the Texas Colition to Abolish the Death Penalty:

[reasonandempathy]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry, a former Army sergeant who was convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in 2020. He had been sentenced to 25 years in prison. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A Texas man walked out of prison after being convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester back in 2020. Governor Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry. Andrew Weber from our member station KUT in Austin has been following the story and joins us now. Andrew, good morning. ANDREW WEBER, BYLINE: Good morning. INSKEEP: I want people to know that you covered some of the protests back in 2020 that led up to this shooting. So what were they like? WEBER: I did, yes, sir. It was - you know, it was July 2020. It was in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and there were a lot of those protests that summer around the police headquarters here in downtown Austin and around the state Capitol. And Garrett Foster was at a lot of those protests with his fiancee. She uses a wheelchair, and Foster sort of helped her get around protests. And every time I saw him, he was armed with a rifle, and he wore military fatigues. He was an Air Force veteran. And he was legally carrying that gun. And that July, he was walking down Congress Avenue downtown. He got into an altercation with Daniel Perry. And he was driving for Uber at the time, and he was also legally armed. And after that altercation, Perry shot Foster multiple times. He was later indicted by a grand jury here in Austin and convicted of murder.

Former US Army Sergeant Daniel Perry, convicted of killing armed protester Garrett Foster at a 2020 Austin demonstration, was pardoned by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Abbott issued the full pardon following a unanimous recommendation from the Texas Parole Board.

Perry, who shot Foster during anti-racist protests, had his firearm rights reinstated after the decision.

[dertaglichedan]

Texas pardons US Army sergeant Daniel Perry who was convicted of murder for shooting AK-47-wielding BLM protester during 2020 riot

Daniel Perry, a US Army Sergeant, has been pardoned by Texas Governor Abbott 

He was sentenced to 25 years over the July 2020 murder of a BLM protestor

A Texas man convicted of shooting a Black Lives Matter protestor dead during the 2020 riots has been pardoned. 

Daniel Perry, a former US Army Sergeant, was found guilty last year of murdering protestor Garrett Foster in Austin in July 2020. Perry sentenced to 25 years in prison. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott requested the state parole board investigate his case to discuss a possible pardon just days later - which led to a unanimous approval vote that was announced Thursday. 

In a statement after the vote was announced, Abbott cited Texas' 'Stand Your Ground' laws, which allow people to use deadly force if they feel they are in imminent danger. 

'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,' Abbott said.

'I thank the Board for its thorough investigation, and I approve their pardon recommendation.' 

(...)

'The investigative efforts encompassed a meticulous review of pertinent documents, from police reports to court records, witness statements, and interviews with individuals linked to the case,' the board said. 

Along side the full pardon, Perry will also have his firearm rights restored, the board announced. 

At his trial, Perry faced up to 99 years behind bars as prosecutors painted him as a racist unhinged army soldier who planned to kill rioters, including bringing up text messages where he told a friend he 'might go to Dallas to shoot looters.' 

He countered that he acted in self-defense and feared he would be shot by Foster, who was legally carrying an AK-47 at the time he was gunned down. 

The case became a touchstone issue after Abbott called for Perry to be pardoned, as critics said the move set a 'dangerous' precedent and was driven by 'political gamesmanship.' 

[cheerfullycatholic]

Ivan Cantu is scheduled for execution on April 26th, 2023 in Texas for allegedly killing his cousin, James Mosqueda, and his cousin's fiancé, Amy Kitchen. Ivan has always maintained his innocence. For over 3 years, the Cousins By Blood Podcast has investigated Ivan's capital murder case and innocence claim. Issues of concern: THE STATE - Evidence showing the state’s star witness committed perjury. - After Cantu’s conviction, the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense for 11 years. - Evidence that the prosecution and investigating officers improperly coached witnesses. - Post-conviction DNA testing could not definitively establish Cantu was wearing the clothing admitted into evidence. - According to multiple forensic pathologists, there is at least a 6 hour difference in the victim’s time of death and when the state’s star witness testified the murders occurred. THE DEFENSE - While the state utilized five experts, the defense requested zero experts. - Trial counsel called no witnesses during the guilt/innocence phase and presented no exculpatory evidence. - Trial counsel did not interview witnesses on the state’s witness list prior to trial. - Trial counsel conceded his guilt during the closing argument. - Trial counsel did not request a defense investigator, nor conduct any independent investigation. STATE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS - Counsel was not communicative with Cantu and rendered ineffective assistance by failing to challenge trial counsel’s performance at the guilt/innocence phase of trial. To learn more about Ivan's case, head over to the Cousins By Blood Podcast. The podcast is also available for downloads on all major podcast platforms. Texas' aggressive execution schedule marks it as an outlier in its use of the death penalty while the majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions. In the last few years, Texas has been one of only a handful of states that have carried out death sentences - and it continues to do so targeting the poor, the mentally ill and people of color. Please sign the petition asking Governor Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to do everything within their power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

[maswartz]

The guy literally sent texts to friends "joking" about how much he wanted to drive through a BLM protest hitting people. Then he did it and followed it up by shooting people too.