By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Judge Cliff Brown of the 147th Criminal Court District on Wednesday handed down a 25-year imprisonment on United States Army sergeant, Daniel Perry, responsible for the shooting and killing of a Black Lives Matter demonstrator in 2020.
The court on Wednesday slammed the sentence of the 36-year-old Perry, for fatally shooting Garrett Foster, 28, at a protest in Austin, Texas.
According to a BBC report, the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott said he would pardon Perry as soon as an official request “hits my desk”.
Perry’s legal representatives have argued he acted in self-defence.
“After three long years we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, told the court on Wednesday.
“Mr Perry, I pray to God that one day, he will get rid of all this hate that is in your heart.”
The sentencing was delivered a month after a Travis County jury unanimously voted to convict Perry of Foster’s murder.
The jury also found Perry not guilty on an additional charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The former Army sergeant, now dressed in prison garb, began to cry as the judge issued his sentence.
Clinton Broden, a lawyer for Perry, called the case “political prosecution” in a statement, and vowed to appeal.
BBC reported that he added that Perry and his legal team would “fully cooperate in the pardon process”.
Foster was killed on 25th July, 2020, on a street where Black Lives Matter demonstrators were marching in Austin, Texas.
