A tale of two convicted criminals in Texas.

First, Larry Pearson.

A Texas man was sentenced to 70 years in prison Wednesday after he was found guilty of harassing a public servant for spitting at Lubbock police officers.

Larry Pearson, 36, was arrested in May 2022 for domestic violence after a victim flagged down an officer in northeast Lubbock, prosecutor Jessica Gorman said. The victim told police that Pearson had hit her several times and that he had a gun. Gorman said that firearm turned out to be an airsoft gun.

A police report at the time stated the victim had “multiple visible injuries” on her face. Gorman said after Pearson was taken into custody, he was upset the victim was not arrested instead. That’s when he started kicking at the doors in the officer’s vehicle. When the officers opened the door to tell him to stop, Gorman said[,] he spat at both officers.

Next, Daniel Perry.

Less than 24 hours after a jury in Austin found Daniel Perry guilty of shooting to death a [Black Lives Matter] protester, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on social media Saturday that he would pardon the convicted killer as soon as a request “hits my desk.”

The unprecedented effort, which Abbott announced to his 1 million followers on Twitter, came as Abbott faced growing calls from national conservative figures such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in the shooting deaths of two Wisconsin protesters in 2020, to act to urgently undo the conviction. 

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand your ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive district attorney,” Abbott said in a statement. “I will work as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry.”

Cool that Kyle Rittenhouse is an ally of Tucker Carlson’s here.

More on what happened at the protest:

Foster attended an Austin protest on July 25 while Perry was downtown driving for Uber. According to police, Perry stopped his car and honked at people protesting while they walked through the street, blocks from the state Capitol. Seconds later, he drove his car into the crowd, police said.

Foster, who was a 28-year-old white man and an Air Force veteran, had been seen openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time, which is legal. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster raised the rifle to the driver first — but seconds later Perry, who was also legally armed, shot and killed Foster and fled the area, police said. He called the police and reported what happened, claiming he shot in self defense after Foster aimed his weapon at him. Perry is also a white man.

Different cases have different particulars, but still – the contrast is rather striking.