A Texas judge on Wednesday sentenced Daniel Perry to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing a protester in 2020. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said he wants to pardon Perry.
Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, was convicted on April 7 by a Travis County jury of murdering Garrett Foster, 28, on July 25, 2020, amid racial justice and police brutality protests in downtown Austin, Texas. Perry’s lawyers argued in court that he acted in self-defense and said Foster was carrying an AK-47 at the time. But prosecutors pointed to witness testimony that Foster never raised his weapon and said Perry could have gotten away without shooting.
Prosecutors sought 25 years in prison for Perry. They presented in court text messages and social media postings, which included a May 31, 2020, Facebook post from Perry in which he wrote, “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo. I was on the side of the protestors until the started with the looting and the violence.”
In asking for a more lenient sentence, Perry’s lawyers had asked the court on Tuesday to consider his career in the military and a forensic psychologist testified that he believed Perry suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
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