The Texas attorney general is calling for Sgt. Daniel Perry to be pardoned as he is facing life in prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Ken Paxton joined "Fox & Friends" to discuss the need for George Soros-backed leftist prosecutors, like Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, to focus on violent crime.
"The legislature needs to address malicious prosecutions, and prosecutors who are not doing their jobs are not prosecuting real crimes. This guy (Garza) ignores real crime, lots of property crimes, drug crimes, abortion, any crimes that he doesn't like, he nullifies. And then he maliciously prosecutes people that he doesn't like for political purposes," Paxton told host Lisa Boothe.
"George Soros, who gets these people elected, he's dropping nuclear bombs on our state, and we're fighting back with a sword. So we've got real problems in Texas and across the country having a credible justice system, particularly on the criminal side."
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Perry was found guilty on Friday of murdering Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran who was carrying an AK-47 during a protest in downtown Austin in July 2020. Attorneys for Perry argued that he acted in self-defense after Foster raised the rifle at him, while prosecutors alleged that Perry instigated the shooting.
"In this case, a jury of twelve listened to testimony for nearly two weeks, upending their lives to painstakingly evaluate the evidence and arguments presented by both the State and the Defense. After hearing from civilian eyewitnesses and expert witnesses, and deliberating for over fifteen hours, they reached the unanimous decision that Daniel Perry did not kill Garrett Foster in self-defense and was guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt," Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said in a statement on Sunday.
Perry's defense team claimed demonstrators encircled and starting pounding on his vehicle and that Foster raised the firearm at Perry, prompting him to open fire with a handgun he legally carried for self-defense.
"When Garrett Foster pointed his AK-47 at Daniel Perry, Daniel had two tenths of a second to defend himself. He chose to live," Doug O’Connell, an attorney for Perry, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"It may be legal in Texas to carry an assault rifle in downtown Austin. It doesn’t make it a good idea. If you point a firearm at someone, you’re responsible for everything that happens next."
Perry faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced. Garza said Sunday that the judge "will be able to consider and evaluate additional evidence" during the sentencing hearing.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is calling for Perry to be pardoned, and Paxton said he is optimistic that the state parole board will quickly follow through to recommend a pardon in this case.
"I sincerely hope that they will take what's happened into account, especially what you talked about, the investigator, and then let this guy get a pardon because he does not deserve to go to prison."
Garza, who is supported by funding from left-wing billionaire George Soros, was first elected in 2020 and faces reelection next year.
An investigation by local news outlet KVUE in 2021 found that Garza's office had dismissed dozens of felony cases for serious crimes, including aggravated robbery and assault of a pregnant woman.
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.
