AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated Saturday that he’s in search of to pardon a U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of homicide within the 2020 deadly capturing of an armed protester throughout nationwide protests in opposition to police violence and racial injustice.

This reserving photograph supplied by the Austin, Texas, Police Department exhibits U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry. Perry was convicted of homicide for fatally capturing an armed protester in 2020, a Texas jury dominated Friday.

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This reserving photograph supplied by the Austin, Texas, Police Department exhibits U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry. Perry was convicted of homicide for fatally capturing an armed protester in 2020, a Texas jury dominated Friday.

AP

Abbott tweeted that as a result of the state structure limits him to a pardon solely on a suggestion by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles he’s asking the board to suggest a pardon and to expedite his request to be able to pardon Sgt. Daniel Perry.

“I look forward to approving the board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” Abbott wrote.

Perry was convicted Friday by a Travis County jury of fatally capturing 28-year-old Garrett Foster throughout a protest in Austin. He faces as much as life in jail when sentenced.

“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 stated.

A telephone name to District Attorney José Garza’s workplace on Saturday was not answered.

Perry’s attorneys argued that the capturing was self-defense as Foster approached Perry’s automotive with an AK-47 rifle. Prosecutors stated Perry may have pushed away earlier than firing his revolver and witnesses testified that Foster by no means raised his rifle at Perry.

Perry, who was charged in 2021, was stationed at Ft. Hood about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Austin in July 2020 when he was working for a ride-sharing firm and turned onto a avenue and into a big crowd of demonstrators in downtown Austin.

In video streamed dwell on Facebook, a automotive might be heard honking earlier than a number of pictures ring out and protesters start screaming and scattering.

When Foster was killed, demonstrators in Austin and past had been marching within the streets for weeks following the police killing of George Floyd.

Floyd died May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee in opposition to the Black man’s neck for greater than 9 minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, repeatedly stated he could not breathe.

Floyd’s killing was recorded on video by a bystander and sparked worldwide protests as a part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.