Greg Abbott Gets Scathing Rebuke From Texas Newspaper

The Austin American-Statesman published a series of letters on Sunday from local Texans who rebuked Texas Governor Greg Abbott for recently pardoning U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry.

Perry shot and killed a protester, Garrett Foster, during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) rally in July 2020. In April 2023, a Travis County jury found Perry guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors said that Perry initiated the deadly encounter by driving his car into a crowd of protesters who were rallying in downtown Austin. Perry told police, however, that Foster had raised his firearm at him before Perry shot him. Both men are white and were legally armed.

On May 16, Abbott pardoned him after an “exhaustive review of U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry’s personal history and the facts surrounding the July 2020 incident,” the governor’s press release stated. The pardon was unanimously recommended by the Texas Pardons and Paroles Board, who are all appointed by the Republican governor.

In his press release, Abbott also noted the state’s self-defense emphasis, saying, “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.”

Three letters published by the Texan newspaper sharply condemned Abbott’s decision to nullify the jury’s decision and expressed alarm about its implications. David Anderson of Austin wrote, “This isn’t even a slippery slope toward authoritarianism – it is a dive off the cliff.”

Shari Chambers of Austin wrote, “Abbott negated the collective decision of 12 jurors who gave of their time, away from family and work, to listen to 40 witnesses and review ample evidence to determine their finding.” The jury deliberated for 17 hours after eight-days of trial.

Chambers added: “We have systems in place to address ‘wrongful convictions’ and as a former attorney general, Greg Abbott is well aware of this.”

Additionally, Aaron McIntyre of Westlake Hills, wrote: “What a disgusting display of politics by Greg Abbott. Why even have a judicial system if our governor can tip the scales any way he pleases? He’s made a mockery of our justice system. If Daniel Perry felt he was unjustly convicted he could have appealed.”

Newsweek left a phone message for Abbott’s press secretary on Sunday for comment.

Last week, the Austin American-Statesman‘s editorial board wrote an article in a similar vein: “In pardoning Perry, Abbott further shifted the rule of law in Texas to a frightening point where the test of whether one goes to prison is not whether a jury rules you did the crime, but whether the governor agrees with your politics.”

The board noted that before Perry’s official sentencing, Abbott publicly expressed his desire to pursue pardoning him. The day after his sentencing, he requested the Board of Pardons and Paroles look into a pardon recommendation. The pardon immediately removed Perry from prison.

The Texan governor, who has been in the office since 2015, supports lenient gun laws. Fifty-five percent of Texans approve somewhat or strongly of Abbott, according to an April University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, with a 2.83 percent margin of error.