A United States Army sergeant, Daniel Perry was sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting dead a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Judge Cliff Brown of the 147th Criminal Court District on Wednesday handed down the sentence to the 36-year-old Perry, for fatally shooting Garrett Foster, 28, at a protest in Austin, Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he would pardon Perry as soon as an official request “hits my desk”, according to BBC.
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.
“Mr Perry, I pray to God that one day, he will get rid of all this hate that is in your heart.”
The sentencing was delivered a month after a Travis County jury unanimously voted to convict Perry of Foster’s murder.
The jury also found Perry not guilty on an additional charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The former Army sergeant, now dressed in prison garb, began to cry as the judge issued his sentence.
Clinton Broden, a lawyer for Perry, called the case “political prosecution” in a statement, and vowed to appeal.
BBC reported that he added that Perry and his legal team would “fully cooperate in the pardon process”.
Foster was killed on 25th July 2020 on a street where Black Lives Matter demonstrators were marching in Austin, Texas.