A US army sergeant was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, for fatally shooting an armed man during a Black Lives Matter protest in Texas – even after the Republican governor said he wanted to pardon the man.
Daniel Perry, 36, was convicted of murder in April for killing Garrett Foster during the downtown Austin protest in July 2020.
The conviction prompted outrage among conservatives. The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has said he will sign a pardon once he has a recommendation from the Texas pardons and parole board, which is stacked with Abbott appointees.
“After three long years we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, told the court on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
“Mr Perry, I pray to God that one day, he will get rid of all this hate that is in your heart.”
Foster’s mother said
The sentencing comes a month after a Travis County jury unanimously voted to convict Perry of Foster’s murder.
The jury also found Perry not guilty on an additional charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The former Army sergeant, now dressed in prison garb, began to cry as the judge issued his sentence.
Clinton Broden, a lawyer for Perry, called the case “political prosecution” in a statement, and vowed to appeal.
He added that Perry and his legal team would “fully co-operate in the pardon process”.
Garrett Foster was killed on 25 July 2020, when Perry, a soldier who drove for Uber at the time, turned on to a street where Black Lives Matter demonstrators were marching, went through a red light and stopped his vehicle.
Foster, a former Air Force mechanic who was openly carrying an AK-47 style weapon – which is legal in Texas – was one of several protesters who approached Perry’s vehicle.
Perry – who had no passenger at the time – said some of the demonstrators began banging on his car. The protesters told police they feared the vehicle might ram into them, according to media accounts.
Perry’s lawyers argued that Foster began to raise the assault rifle toward Sgt Perry.
According to authorities, Perry lowered his window and shot Foster five times with a .357 revolver before driving off. He called 911 shortly afterwards.
Prosecutors had argued that Perry could have driven away if he feared for his safety, rather than firing his gun.
A forensic psychologist who examined Perry testified during his sentencing that he believed Perry suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder exacerbated by his time in the military and that he had developed an “us vs them” mentality.
Perry began searching for the locations of Black Lives Matter protests weeks before the shooting, according to court documents. He also messaged friends on social media, comparing protesters to “a bunch of monkeys flinging (expletive) at a zoo”, court records show.
His lawyers argued Perry was legally acting in self-defence when he shot Foster.
