After Black Lives Matter protest
Despite the murder of demonstrators: the governor wants a pardon
04/10/2023 01:11 am
Especially in Texas, according to the cliché, things are a little different when it comes to gun laws. A recent decision by Governor Abbott feeds this assumption. He wants to campaign for a pardon for a man who shot dead a protester at a Black Lives Matter protest.
In the US state of Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is campaigning for a pardon for a man convicted of killing a protester at a Black Lives Matter protest. Abbott said he has called on the state parole board to recommend pardoning Daniel P. He looks forward to approving this recommendation, Abbott wrote on Twitter. According to Texas law, such a recommendation is necessary.
P., a sergeant and part-time driver for the Uber transport service, had been convicted of killing a 28-year-old. The young man had taken part in a demonstration by the anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter against police brutality in Austin.
P. said he drove through Austin and turned onto a street full of demonstrators. According to the police, P. honked the horn in the direction of the protesters and drove into the crowd to make his way through the demonstration.
Perpetrators and victims carried guns
The white 28-year-old was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle. The jury at P.’s trial, also white, heard conflicting statements as to whether the 28-year-old had pointed the gun at P. But P. said he feared for his life and therefore opened fire with a weapon that he was also legally carrying.
P’s attorneys argued that a state statute known as “Stand Your Ground” justified its action. In 27 US states, such laws grant a very far-reaching right to self-defense.
Republicans put pressure on Abbott
Governor Abbott agreed with Perry’s attorneys. “Texas has one of the strongest Stand Your Ground self-defense laws that cannot be overturned by a jury or progressive prosecutor,” he said. According to a media report, the Texas Republican Party had asked Abbott to pardon the sergeant.
Texas Republicans have now praised the governor’s decision. In contrast, Democratic MP Sarah Eckhardt criticized the decision as “a startling and dangerous suspension of the rule of law that will lead to further armed conflict and inevitable tragedy”.
The “Stand Your Ground” laws are very controversial. In 2012, a case in the state of Florida caused a stir in which a man shot and killed an unarmed black youth because he allegedly felt threatened by him.