AUSTIN, Texas — Attorneys general in other states want the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Texas' pardon of a man convicted of murder.
Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry earlier in May after he was convicted of murdering Garrett Foster during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.
On Wednesday, the attorneys general in 13 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to the DOJ calling for a civil rights investigation of Perry's actions. The letter states that the AGs want the department to look into whether Perry violated federal criminal law.
Foster was armed when he was killed by Perry, which led Abbott to say Perry's conviction violated the Texas "Stand Your Ground" law. Perry claimed he shot Foster in self-defense after he encountered a group of demonstrators while he was working as a rideshare driver in Downtown Austin.
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Within hours of Perry's pardon, he was released from a prison in southeast Texas.
An attorney for Garrett Foster's fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, released a statement on her behalf after Perry's pardon:
"I loved Garrett Foster. I thought we were going to grow old together. He was the love of my life. He still is. I am heartbroken by this lawlessness. Governor Abbott has shown that to him, only certain lives matter. He has made us all less safe.
Daniel Perry texted his friends about plans to murder a protestor he disagreed with. After a lengthy trial, with an abundance of evidence, 12 impartial Texans determined he that he carried out that plan, and murdered the love of my life. With this pardon, the Governor has desecrated the life of a murdered Texan, impugned that jury’s just verdict, and declared that citizens can be killed with impunity as long as they hold political views that are different from those in power."