Travis County District Attorney José Garza pushed back Sunday at Gov. Greg Abbott's effort to pardon an Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting of a Black Lives Matter protester, saying in a statement, "a jury gets to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent — not the governor."

"In a state that believes in upholding the importance of the rule of law, the governor's statement that he will intervene in the legal proceedings surrounding the death of Garrett Foster is deeply troubling," Garza said in a two-page statement.

He also said prosecutors will work with state District Judge Clifford Brown as early as Monday morning to set a sentencing date for Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murder by a unanimous jury verdict in Foster's death. Garza said Brown "will be able to consider and evaluate additional evidence before sentencing Mr. Perry for the crime he committed."

Garza did not elaborate. However, Brown is likely to consider a trove of anti-protester social media posts made during nationwide social justice demonstrations in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder and private messages, only some of which Brown allowed jurors to hear. Messages that jurors considered include one in which Perry told a friend on social media that in May 2020 he might go to Dallas to "shoot looters." He then texted that friend that he was at a protest in Dallas in June 2020 and he was "packing heat."

Families of victims also are often allowed to make statements to the court before a judge imposes a sentence.

On Sunday, Foster's fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, released a statement: "For the first time since I lost Garrett, I felt some sense of justice and relief when the jury rendered its verdict. But the governor has immediately taken that away since he announced there are two legal systems in Texas: one for those with power, like Mr. Perry, and one for everyone else. ... I hope the governor never again claims that he stands for victims' rights."

Garza's statement came after Abbott announced on Twitter on Saturday that he would act swiftly on a request from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which he appoints, to undo Perry's conviction. Abbott's announcement came after calls from national conservative voices, including Fox host Tucker Carlson and Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of killing two protesters in 2020 in Wisconsin.

Perry, an Army sergeant, was working as an Uber driver in Austin on the night of July 25, 2020, when he ran a red light at the intersection of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue and drove toward a Black Lives Matter march before stopping.

Foster, carrying an AK-47 rifle, was among a group of protesters who approached his car. Perry told police that Foster threatened him by raising the barrel of his rifle at him, so he shot him five times with a .357 revolver through the window of his car before driving away.

Perry’s defense team argued that he acted in self-defense, but prosecutors contended that Perry instigated what happened. They highlighted a series of social media posts and Facebook messages in the weeks before the shooting in which Perry made statements that they said indicated his state of mind, such as he might “kill a few people on my way to work. They are rioting outside my apartment complex.”

In his statement, Garza said Perry's conviction would automatically be reviewed by state and federal courts, "who will examine the record to ensure that no legal errors were made at this level and that the evidence supported the conviction."

Garza also promised the Foster family that he will continue to push for "a justice system that treats everyone equally, including Garrett Foster."

"I know how long they have waited for justice for Garrett and their family," Garza wrote. "I can imagine that justice must feel so elusive for them right now, and for that, I am more sorry than words can express."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: DA José Garza rebukes Gov. Abbott's efforts to pardon Daniel Perry