Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday pardoned Daniel Perry, a former US Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020 and was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison.

His decision comes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend a full pardon and the restoration of Perry’s firearm rights.

Abbott asked the board to conduct an investigation in April 2023, and in a statement on Thursday, the board said its “investigative efforts encompassed a meticulous review of pertinent documents, from police reports to court records, witness statements, and interviews with individuals linked to the case.”

CNN has reached out to Perry’s attorney for more information.

Perry faced between five and 99 years in prison for fatally shooting 28-year-old Air Force veteran Garrett Foster at an Austin, Texas, racial justice rally two months after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Shortly after Perry’s conviction in April 2023, Abbott said he wanted to pardon Perry and issued an unusual request for the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite a review of the case before a sentence was handed down.

“Among the voluminous files reviewed by the Board, they considered information provided by the Travis County District Attorney, the full investigative report on Daniel Perry, plus a review of all the testimony provided at trial,” Abbott said in a statement.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney. I thank the Board for its thorough investigation, and I approve their pardon recommendation,” Abbott said.

The governor can only pardon Perry if the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends it, according to Texas law.

Prosecutors said Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood, initiated the fatal encounter when he ran a red light and drove his vehicle into a crowd gathered at the protest. Foster was openly carrying an assault-style rifle – legal in Texas – and approached Perry’s car and motioned for him to lower his window, at which point Perry fatally shot him with a handgun, prosecutors said.

During his sentencing hearing last May, the prosecution asked that he be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. They highlighted a stream of racist and inflammatory social media posts Perry wrote prior to the shooting and the defense’s own analysis of his mental disorders and mindset.

“This man is a loaded gun ready to go off on any perceived threat that he thinks he has to address in his black and white world and his us versus them mentality,” a prosecutor said.

Perry’s defense team asked for a sentence of 10 years, citing his lack of criminal history, his psychological issues, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and praise from several of his military colleagues.

They argued his actions were justified as self-defense. Perry told police during an interview that he believed Foster was going to aim the firearm at him, according to CNN affiliate KEYE.

This story is developing and will be updated.

CNN’s Eric Levenson, Lucy Kafanov and Nouran Salahieh contributed to this report.