Daniel Perry, a 35-year-old U.S. Army sergeant, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the death of a Black Lives Matter protester back in 2020.
Perry, who claims he acted in self-defense during the altercation, was facing anywhere from 5 to 99 years behind bars. Notably, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to pardon Perry.
At the time of his death, Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old white man, was protesting the death of George Floyd.
“The protesters were all around me, banging on the side of the car, hitting me with spray paint cans,” Perry told investigators, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “One guy (Foster) wanted to talk to me.”
Perry said he rolled down his window to talk to Foster, who said something quietly before raising his weapon. Foster was openly carrying an AK-47 across his chest.
“That’s when I got my weapon and pulled the trigger as fast as I could, and then drove away and called 911,” Perry told police. He turned himself into authorities immediately following the incident.
Ashe Schow contributed to this post