The mother of Garrett Foster, the man killed during a Black Lives Matter protest, said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ripped peace and justice from her family by pardoning the man who killed her son.
Last week, Abbott issued a pardon for Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant who killed Foster in 2020. A Travis County jury found Perry guilty of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
“We finally got a trial and we finally got justice, we finally got long overdue peace, and then the governor ripped it right from under us,” said Sheila Foster, Garrett’s mother. “My life has been hell the last four years.”
Abbott approved the pardon, arguing 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.”
Perry was then immediately released from prison.
“I think they’re using my dead child to make a political statement,” Sheila Foster said.
Garrett Foster attended a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, July 25, 2020, two months after the murder of George Floyd. He was marching with other protesters while legally carrying a semiautomatic rifle.
Perry was driving for Uber and encountered the protesters, he honked at them and drove his car into the crowd, Foster approached him and Perry pulled out a handgun and fatally shot him.
Before killing Foster and going to the protest, Perry had posted on social media: “I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex.”
Abbott’s decision was criticized by Foster’s family and experts, who said it was out of line.
“Their actions are contrary to the law and demonstrate that there are two classes of people in this state where some lives matter and some lives do not,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement. “They have sent a message to Garrett Foster’s family, to his partner, and to our community that his life does not matter.”
Sheila Foster, on her part, said she believes Abbott should be removed from office. “I will spend the rest of my life making sure that happens,” Foster said. “This is so corrupt and it’s all a political circus.”
