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Texas governor pardons racist murderer

You remember Daniel Perry, don't you? He's the guy in Texas who developed a hatred of Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 and wrote to friends about how he planned to kill a few of them. Eventually he did. He deliberately drove his car into a crowd of BLM protesters, claimed that one of them had maybe raised a rifle in his direction, and then gunned him down before plowing through the rest of the crowd to make his escape.

A jury—in Texas—unanimously convicted him of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, but right wingers were outraged and Gov. Greg Abbott promised to pardon him just as soon as he could.

That turned out to be yesterday, and Abbott has followed through. Perry is a free man because, apparently, it's now legal in Texas to kill protesters if they annoy you a lot. This is disgusting beyond words. Perry's act was a brutal, cold-blooded, violent crime motivated by a long history of outspoken racism, but because he was acting out a conservative anti-BLM fantasy Abbott set him free. I'd say it's unbelievable, but these days that's not true. It's all too believable from a modern Republican.

80 thoughts on “Texas governor pardons racist murderer

  1. MF

    The protesters were blocking roads.

    Patience with such people has more or less run out.

    I think you are going to see more such killings and beatings and jury nullification in red areas will prevent convictions.

    1. Falconer

      Kill those people and you will discover that there are lots of guns in this country and not all of them are owned by Right Wingers.

        1. Solar

          A single small peckered racist asshole like yourself having 20 guns doesn't really matter unless they could magically use all of them at the same time.

    2. jdubs

      Usually, murderers (and their degenerate defenders) try to come up with something weightier than being slightly inconvenienced by people they look down on.

      But this is where we are.

      This isnt exactly new bevahior for these angry people. US history is replete with examples of state sanctioned violence against those lesser people. Decade after decade, century after century, this same angry group just wants to punish and harm the people they look down on.

    3. bbleh

      Can't tell whether this is parody, but I fear not.

      "You are in my way. I will kill you."

      "Deplorables" is too kind a word. Half of Republicans are outright degenerates. And the rest look the other way, which is pretty much equally bad.

        1. chumpchaser

          This wasn't road rage, you disgusting piece of shit. The guy hates Black people, went out to murder them, succeeded, and got a pass from you and your filthy friends.

                1. libraryguy

                  That's facile. Racism led him to directly confront BLM protestors, then assault and kill someone. Whether the victim was Black himself, he was certainly a standin for the Black lives he (the killer) hated and despised.

        2. Crissa

          We should remember this comment for next time you say you're honest, Atticus.

          The guy drove around police barricades to get to the protesters who were crossing at a crosswalk.

      1. painedumonde

        It very may well be - of the trollish variety. But the commentor does consistently remain in character. And since that's the case, one eventually has to assume that the commentor is psychotic or at the least sociopathic.

    4. Austin

      I’m too late for some but… Don’t feed the troll. MF has no soul. MF is just a disgusting piece of shit who never argues in good faith and has absolutely no moral worth whatsoever. Ignore it and wait for it to die.

    5. aldoushickman

      "The protesters were blocking roads."

      And this guy chose to drive out to a protest, thereby adding to the traffic problem, for the specific purpose of killing somebody.

      And there was no "jury nullification" here--the jury convicted him of murder. It was Gov. Abbott who decided to nullify a murder conviction.

      Texas politics continually astonishes me. It's a rare thing for a governor to pardon freaking *murder,* and to do so on behalf of a plainly racist son of a bitch who sent text messages about "hunting Muslims" and about killing a daughter if she had a crush on "a little negro boy" is astoundingly awful.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-69013312

      1. KenSchulz

        But Gov. Abbott makes it clear (as if it were needed) that the GOP welcomes racists and in fact depends on their support.

    6. realrobmac

      This was not "jury nullification" dipshit. The jury found him guilty. This was nullification by a right wing politician.

    7. Crissa

      The protestors were crossing a road normally, behind police barricades, in a crosswalk.

      They weren't blocking the roads.

    8. kkseattle

      There was no jury nullification. He was convicted.

      The bigger question is why any corporation would do business in a lawless shithole like Texas.

    9. ScentOfViolets

      And on that note I daresay that there are rather more than a few persons whose patience with people such as you has long since and more rather than less run out.

    10. irtnogg

      Except that there was no such jury nullification in this case, because even in Texas, regular citizens think it's a bad idea to drive through a crowd, then pull a gun and shoot one of them, and then drive through the crowd AGAIN to get away. The fact that you are inconvenienced by this, and that you disagree with the politics of the protesters, is irrelevant. Or do you think James Alex Fields should also be pardoned.
      SMH

  2. S1AMER

    Abbott's explanation is that he had no choice but to issue the pardon because of Texas' "stand-your-ground" law, given Perry's claim that he saw someone in the crowd with a gun.

    So, in Texas, any racist now knows [s]he has license to kill any of "those people" and get away with it under full cover of law as administered by an obliging state government.

    (Hell, who knows: Maybe within a year or two Texas and copycat states will issue hunting licenses to all the Perrys in their states.)

    1. Austin

      Only if they manage to get national attention for their crimes. Abbott isn’t pardoning all the other racists in Texas prisons (yet) and undoubtedly Perry isn’t the only one. Still, Abbott deserves to be pushed off a cliff for his performative assholery.

    2. painedumonde

      And this is the break - most policing agencies recognize that vehicles are deadly weapons when certain circumstances arise. A legally carrying citizen can defend herself when a vehicle makes her fear for her life.

      It's really a bad decision and only done for an audience of one.

    3. lawnorder

      It seems to me that "he had a gun, so I had to shoot him before he shot me" is accepted as a justification for use of deadly force (and cops use basically that reasoning frequently) then pre-emptive shooting of cops, who all have guns, is legally justified.

  3. Justin

    Foster was openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time and during the trial, each side presented conflicting accounts as to whether the protester raised the gun to Perry who was also legally armed.

    A dead gun nut (no matter their political views) is a win in my book. Hopefully the other gun nut has had his own life ruined to the point where he uses his newly “restored gun rights” to off himself! It could happen! Then we would get a twofer!

    1. Austin

      Ignore this troll too. He may not be as bad as MF but Justin also is an amoral monster that pollutes Kevin’s blog.

      1. Atticus

        You can't invoke standing your ground while in the act of committing a crime. (At least that's the law here in FL. I'm assuming its the same in TX.) I believe the guy that was killed was illegally blocking a road.

        1. aldoushickman

          Perry ran a red light so that he could run his car into the group of protesters. So he was committing multiple serious crimes right there, and "can't invoke standing your ground while in the act of committing a crime."

          1. Atticus

            Correct. I didn’t say anything about Perry. I was replying to the comment that “both men were standing their ground”.

        2. painedumonde

          Isn't the law to give way to pedestrians regardless if they are breaking the law? Please, don't answer because I'm fairly certain there will be gibberish in your response.

        3. jdubs

          Lol, this is so dumb.

          STAND YOUR GROUND!! ITS OK IF YOU ARE DRIVING OVER PEOPLE, BUT NOT IF IT HAPPENS WHILE STANDING IN THE ROAD!!

          THATS ILLEGALZ!

          Angry morons really be stretching for excuses.

        4. Crissa

          Atticus, next time you post, we'll point out you lied to support a murder,

          Someone crossing a road in a crosswalk is not 'blocking the road'.

      2. MF

        Well, obviously since both were White.

        Was this supposed to be making some kind of point? Or are you just totally ignorant of the case you are so outraged about and did not know that the person who died was white?

          1. Marlowe

            Unfortunately, the MAGAts crossed that line a long time ago with, just for example, Zimmerman and Rittenhouse.

    2. Crissa

      The guy jumped out of his vehicle with a gun after hitting pedestrians.

      He has no standing to defend himself, as he's the instigator.

  4. roux.benoit

    I don't know all the details, but the fact that a jury of his peers in TX found him guilty should have been enough. If there was matter for appeal through the courts, Perry could have done this. The fact that Perry couldn't appeal this decision in TX shows that he had no case. The pardon is nothing more than permission for extra-judicial killing. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the modern GOP.

    1. MF

      If the fact that a jury of his peers found him guilty is enough then are all pardons of people who received a jury trial illegitimate?

      1. Crissa

        The fact that Perry lied about the case makes it illegitimate, the jury only confirms he lied about the case.

      2. lawnorder

        Pardons generally tend to be illegitimate. Trump's extreme abuse of the pardon power convinces me that its existence is a mistake.

  5. AverageJoe

    BLM is a racist anti-White movement based on the fentanyl-caused death of a violent black criminal. So Perry defended himself against a violent White racist criminal who attempted to murder him. It's not a hate crime to kill racists who attack you.

    Moral: Don't play in the streets. Don't attend a racist protest with a gun.

      1. AverageJoe

        Troll = Someone who you don't agree with, but whose arguments are so evidence-based and powerful that you can't rebut them and so you instead leave a fact-free reply calling him a troll.

        ????????????

        1. Five Parrots in a Shoe

          Perry was convicted of murder and sentenced to decades in prison by a jury. Of Texans!

          But go ahead. Ignore the evidence of premeditation that condemned Perry, and keep pretending he is innocent. Or just FOAD.

            1. Crissa

              The jury confirmed the crime, which has a recommended sentence. The Judge didn't pick it out of a hat. You already said it above in your reply to roux benoit.

              You can't make this argument without being dishonest.

        2. jdubs

          Lol, you can smell the desperation on this poor guy.

          Keep hammering at the keyboard!
          One day, you will win!!

    1. aldoushickman

      "So Perry defended himself against a violent White racist criminal who attempted to murder him"

      Perry ran a red light so that he could run his car into a crowd of people; he then shot a guy. And was convicted of murder. Not sure why you want to defend a criminal asshole like that, but hey, you pick the hill you want to die on, I guess.

    1. BigFish

      Or Sterling Hayden -- to remind us that these BLM types are robbing us of our precious bodily fluids. 😉

  6. golack

    Now we're back to having to prosecute civil rights violations because the state fails to enforce its laws.
    Welcome to 1950's....

  7. cephalopod

    The likelihood that this guy murders again is very high.

    I live in a state where claiming self defense is still difficult, and even here there are multiple cases of someone who got off on self-defense and then murdering or attempting to murder someone else just a few years later.

    This guy has just been told that he can go out and be a vigilante. He's going to do it again, but next time it might be a neighbor whose party is a little too loud, some kids who decide to turn their car around on his driveway, or another driver who cuts him off.

    1. bbleh

      ... and moreover, that violence is a legitimate first resort in any dispute. Which means that when (probably) he shoots someone again, it is statistically more likely to be a spouse or a relative or a friend or someone else close to him rather than a stranger.

  8. barry bear

    The new ARM PIT state of the USA!! It was Florida. Torch passed to Texas as the ARM PIT STATE !! Kitties know.

    1. bbleh

      oooh, ooh, nickname contest! For Florida, ima go more with syphilitic wang, and for Texas I think just stinky asshole.

  9. Five Parrots in a Shoe

    Fun fact: youngsters today in Scandinavian countries have a new slang word. When something is completely bizarre and inexplicable they will say, "That's texas!"

    I wonder why?

  10. Dana Decker

    Hey look! WaPo 2024/05/16
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/05/16/army-sergeant-murder-parole-black-lives-matter/97192172-13bc-11ef-9d37-865890cc2670_story.html?ref=upstract.com

    Abbott’s demand for a review of Perry’s case followed pressure from former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who on national television had urged the governor to intervene after the sergeant was convicted at trial in April 2023. Perry was sentenced after prosecutors used his social media history and text messages to portray him as a racist who may commit violence again.

    Dallas Morning News 2023/04/14
    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/04/14/how-gov-greg-abbotts-rare-pardon-announcement-shows-tucker-carlsons-continued-influence/

    Hours after Daniel Perry was convicted of murder earlier this month for shooting an armed man in Austin during a protest in summer 2020, Fox News host Tucker Carlson aimed his influential megaphone directly at Gov. Greg Abbott.

    “It means that in the state of Texas, if you have the wrong politics, you’re not allowed to defend yourself,” Carlson said of Perry’s conviction. He mentioned extending Abbott an invitation to appear on his show, adding Abbott’s office declined to make him available.

    Neither Abbott nor his office have explained the reasoning behind his decision to request the pardon — a rare step for the governor, who has used that executive power sparingly during his time in office — or whether the monologue from Carlson — whose departure from Fox News was announced on April 24 — was the impetus behind it. But it demonstrates how influential Carlson was, even without a president who watches his show regularly, said a researcher who studies Carlson.

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