Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-MN)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota’s Attorney General, Democrat Keith Ellison, has joined a coalition of 14 attorneys-general calling for the U.S. Justice Department to intervene in a Texas murder case.
A jury in Austin, Texas found U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry guilty of the July 2020 murder of Garrett Foster, who Ellison says was protesting racial injustice. Perry’s attorneys argued he was acting in self-defense because Foster was carrying an AK-47-style rifle.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently pardoned Perry, saying that state “has one of the strongest ‘stand your ground’ laws that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive district attorney.”
Abbott’s statement prompted accusations that the pardon was politically motivated.
Ellison says Texas law does not shield Perry from federal prosecution, and he’s calling on the U.S. Justice Department to open an investigation into whether the defendant violated federal civil rights laws by killing Foster.
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