Greg Abbott: murdering left-wing protestors should be legal
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What Republicans actually think about the rule of law and free speech in one handy action:
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Thursday pardoned a man who was convicted of fatally shooting a protester during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in the summer of 2020, fulfilling a promise he made last year amid pressure from conservatives.
The decision immediately followed a pardon recommendation from the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by the governor. Lawyers for the man, Daniel S. Perry, argued that he had acted in self-defense against the protester, who was carrying an AK-47-style rifle.
Mr. Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison in an emotional hearing last year in which prosecutors presented evidence of racist online comments he had made and said that psychological experts had found him to be “basically a loaded gun.” As the pardons board considered the case, lawyers with the Travis County district attorney, José Garza, met with the board to argue against a pardon.
[…]
During the trial, prosecutors showed evidence before the shooting of Mr. Perry’s animosity toward protesters on social media.
The jury reviewed video of the July 25 confrontation during their deliberations, according to an alternate juror, and considered the self-defense argument. But jurors ultimately voted to convict.
Perhaps not as bad for free speech as suggesting to a reporter that you shouldn’t call a pulled pork sandwich a “banh mi,” but pretty bad.