Texas Governor Greg Abbott is
pushing the state's parole board
to recommend a pardon
for a US Army
sergeant convicted of murder on Friday.
Daniel Perry was convicted
of killing a protester
during a Black Lives Matter
rally back in 2020.
He says he fired his weapon
in self-defense
after he says
protesters surrounded his car
as he drove through downtown Nashville.
Lawyers argue
he had the right to open fire
after one demonstrator,
he says, raised an assault rifle at him.
CNN's Camilla Bernal joins us now
with the latest.
Camille, a very unusual case
to see a governor
weigh in so soon
right after this
whole matter was adjudicated in court.
Yeah, this is not over,
but Governor Greg Abbott
is pointing to self-defense,
pointing to stand your ground laws
in Texas.
And look,
there are some in conservative media
that have been encouraging
the governor to pardon Perry and even
Kyle Rittenhouse has been very vocal
on Twitter.
Rittenhouse was acquitted
after he shot
and killed
two people in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, during protests there.
He's been asking for money
for the legal defense.
He says he knows what this is all about.
On the other hand, the Travis County
district attorney
speaking out
recently and saying
that this is very troubling
and saying that in the legal world,
it is a jury, not a governor,
who gets to decide this.
That's a statement that we got
from Jose Garza of Travis County
very recently now, in terms of the case,
what happened here
was in 2020 in Austin, Texas.
Daniel Perry is driving for
rideshare company
and he gets to the area
where all the protesters are.
The key here is that he encounters
Garrett Foster,
who was 28 years old at the time.
He was carrying an AK 47.
And Perry's
defense says that Foster held up
or was
trying to essentially raise that AK 47.
And that's when Perry felt
that his life was in jeopardy.
He shot
and kill Foster,
who you see there on your screen.
So, yes, this is political.
This is also in terms
of what happens
next part of the legal process.
Because, look,
Perry has not been sentenced.
He has not appealed his conviction.
So this is really not over.
And the family
of Garrett
Foster reacting after that verdict
on Friday. Here is his father
just like to say, we're
thankful for the legal team
that represented us and the jury
and we're happy with the verdict.
We are
very sorry for his family as well.
Just there's no winners in this.
And I'm just glad it's over.
Now, Governor Greg
Abbott is asking for this process
to go quickly, to be expedited.
We'll see what happens.
Of course,
there is going to be a lot of opposition
on the side of the DEA
and those
who are
really trying
to support the foster family
through all of this, Jim.
So let's discuss
this very unusual case
with former federal prosecutor
Michael Zeldin.
Michael, good to see you.
What is your reaction to Governor
Abbott's announcement
that he is working
to pardon
this man just one day
after he was convicted of murder?
As Kamilah was saying a few moments ago,
he hasn't even been sentenced yet.
That's right.
And you have to
understand the context of this.
This Sergeant
Perry is 70 miles away from his base,
driving around in an
Uber car of some sort
He encounters these protesters.
And rather than turn around and leave,
he drives his car
into the middle of them.
And you can't forget Charlottesville,
where people were killed by a car
doing the exact same thing.
So as he's approached by the victim,
instead of,
again, leaving the scene
as he could have, he opens fire on him.
The jury deliberated
17 hours, Jim, over an eight day trial.
And they convicted of murder.
They reject his
right to defend himself defense.
And the judge and Governor Abbott
should let the jury's verdict stand.
There's no basis in law or fact for this.
So it
therefore smacks of politics
because this was a Black Lives
Matter protest and you can't ignore
that context.