Global Courant 2023-05-11 01:38:00
army sergeant. Daniel Perry plans to appeal a 25-year prison sentence he received for the fatal 2020 shooting of armed George Floyd protester Garrett Foster in downtown Austin. Clinton Broden. Broden also noted that Perry’s prosecution was moving forward at the behest of Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza. “Those who argue that Governor Abbott’s stated intent is based on politics simply choose to ignore the fact that it was only the political machinations of a rogue prosecutor that led to the prosecution of Sergeant Perry at first instance.” said the defense attorney.
A US Army sergeant plans to appeal his 25-year sentence for fatally shooting a gunman during a Black Lives Matter protest in Texas, and will join efforts by the state’s Republican governor to pardon, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Daniel Perry, 36, was convicted of murder in April for killing 28-year-old Garrett Foster during the July 2020 downtown Austin protest.
“After three long years, we are finally getting justice for Garrett,” the victim’s mother, Sheila Foster, told the court after sentencing Wednesday.
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“Mr. Perry, I pray to God that one day he will get rid of all this hatred that lives in your heart,” she said.
Perry attorney Clinton Broden said in a statement that his client would appeal. He called Perry’s conviction the product of “political persecution” and said the defense team would “fully cooperate with the pardon process.”
Perry’s conviction sparked outrage from prominent conservatives, and Governor Greg Abbott, citing Texas’ Stand Your Ground laws, has said he would sign a pardon once a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles lands on his desk
The board — which is filled with Abbott appointees — is reviewing Perry’s case under the governor’s order, but it’s unclear when it will make a decision.
District Judge Clifford Brown issued a statement during sentencing that did not directly address the possible pardon. But he insisted that Perry had a “fair and impartial trial” and that the jury’s decision “deserves our credit and must be respected”.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said it was Abbott “who decided to get politics involved in this case.”
Garza said he has been in contact with the board and has been assured that prosecutors will be allowed to file a suit against clemency, and that there will be a presentation from Foster’s family.
The pardon process is a valuable check on the justice system, Broden said.
“Those who argue that Governor Abbott’s stated intent is based on politics are simply ignoring the fact that it was only the political machinations of a rogue prosecutor that initially led to the prosecution of Sergeant Perry,” he said.
army sergeant. Daniel Perry plans to appeal his 25-year sentence for the fatal shooting of Garrett Foster, an armed Black Lives Matter protester he encountered during a 2020 confrontation in downtown Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
Perry was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles north of Austin, when the shooting took place. He had just dropped off a customer and turned into a street full of protesters.
Perry said he was trying to get past the crowd and fired his gun when Foster pointed a shotgun at him. Witnesses testified that they did not see Foster raise his gun, and prosecutors argued that Perry could have driven off without firing.
Perry said he acted in self-defense. His lawyers asked the judge to consider his more than a decade-long military career and to impose a sentence of up to 10 years. Army spokesman Bryce Dubee has said Perry has been classified as in “civil confinement” pending separation from the military.
On Tuesday, prosecutors filed dozens of texts and social media posts that Perry had written, shared or liked, including some shockingly racist images. They were barred from Perry’s trial, but were released publicly after his conviction and admitted to the sentencing phase by Brown.
“This man is a loaded gun, ready to go off at any perceived threat,” said District Attorney Guillermo Gonzalez, who urged Brown to face a sentence of at least 25 years. “He’s going to do it again.”
Perry, who is White, was working as a ride-share driver in downtown Austin on July 25, 2020, when he shot and killed Foster, an Air Force veteran. Foster, who was also white, legally carried an AK-47 rifle when he participated in the rally against police killings and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.
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Under Perry’s statements released Tuesday, he wrote on Facebook a month before the shooting: “It’s official that I’m a racist because I don’t agree with people behaving like animals at the zoo.”
Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020. A few days later, as protests broke out, Perry texted an acquaintance, “Maybe I’ll go to Dallas and shoot looters.”
Perry attorney Douglas O’Connell argued that the texts and messages were taken out of context by prosecutors and that Perry has a right to free speech.
“Some of those social media posts are downright abhorrent,” O’Connell said, classifying others as “dark humor.”
Foster was with his girlfriend, Whitney Mitchell, who is black and uses a wheelchair, when Perry shot him.
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“Black lives mattered to Garrett,” his mother said in court Wednesday. “The love of his life was a black woman.”
