A US Army sergeant convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
A judge sentenced Daniel Perry, 36, on Wednesday, for fatally shooting Garrett Foster, 28, at a protest in Austin. Perry and Foster are both white.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott previously said he would pardon Perry as soon as an official request “hits my desk”.
Republicans and Perry’s attorneys have argued he acted in self-defence.
“After three long years we’re finally getting justice for Garrett,” Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, told the court on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
“Mr. Perry, I pray to God that one day, he will get rid of all this hate that is in your heart.”
The sentencing comes a month after a Travis County jury unanimously voted to convict Perry of Foster’s murder.
The jury found Perry not guilty on an additional charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The incident occurred on 25 July 2020, when Perry, a soldier who drove for Uber at the time, turned on to a street where Black Lives Matter demonstrators were marching, went through a red light and stopped his vehicle.
Foster, a former Air Force mechanic who was openly carrying an AK-47 style weapon – which is legal in Texas – was one of several protesters who approached Perry’s vehicle.
Perry – who had no passenger at the time – said some of the demonstrators began banging on his car. The protesters told police they feared the vehicle might ram into them, according to media accounts.
Perry’s lawyers said Foster “began to raise the assault rifle toward Sgt Perry”, CNN reported.
According to authorities, Perry lowered his window and shot Foster five times with a .357 revolver before driving off. He called 911 shortly afterwards.
After his conviction in April, Governor Abbott tweeted: “I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt Perry.”
The state’s pardon board, which must approve such orders, said an expedited investigation would begin immediately.
