Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott announced this weekend that he plans to pardon a defendant convicted last week in the shooting death of a US military veteran who took part in a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest.
Abbott’s planned pardon is a dangerous attack on the rule of law.
Why is the Republican governor – who pardoned just two people last year – in a hurry to pardon the person who was convicted days ago of fatally shooting 28-year-old Air Force veteran Garrett Foster in the middle of a Texas street?
Abbott’s pardon announcement came after he was goaded to do so by figures on the right – from Fox News host Tucker Carlson to the chairman of the Texas Republican Party to Kyle Rittenhouse. The last became celebrated in right-wing circles when, as a teenager, he shot three people in 2020 – killing two and injuring another – during unrest and anti-racism protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Rittenhouse, who was acquitted on all counts in November 2021, testified that he acted in self-defense.)
The facts of the Texas murder case were fairly straightforward: On the night of July 25, 2020, defendant Daniel Perry was working as an Uber driver in Austin as protests were taking place in the Texas capital over the gruesome murder of George Floyd. Foster, who was openly carrying an AK-47, was one of the protesters taking part in the demonstrations.
According to Austin police, Perry was driving his car when he reached an intersection blocked by BLM protesters. He initially paused for a few seconds to allow some demonstrators to cross the street, but after honking his horn at them, he ran a red light. The prosecution argued Perry initiated the encounter by running the light and turning into the crowd, according to CNN affiliate KEYE. That’s when the confrontation took place between Perry and Foster – both White and legally armed.
There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster pointed his weapon at Perry or Perry made the first move. What’s undisputed, however, is that Perry fired…
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