FIRST ON FOX: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lashes out at a “Soros-backed” prosecutor after a state Lone Star jury found Daniel Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, guilty of shooting dead a armed protester in Austin during anti-police demonstrations in the summer of 2020.
“Self-defense is a God-given right, not a crime. Unfortunately, the Soros-backed Travis County District Attorney cares more about the radical agenda of dangerous Antifa and BLM mobs than about justice,” Paxton said in a statement to Fox News. Digital .
“This week has shown us how rogue prosecutors have weaponized the justice system,” he added. “They must be stopped!”
Paxton’s comments blaming Travis County DA Jose Garza come after a Texas jury deliberated for two days and ultimately ruled against Perry in the fatal shooting.
AUSTIN’S MURDER TRIAL BEGINS FOR ARMY SERGEANT WHO CLAIMED IN SELF-DEFENSE AN ARMED DEMONSTRATOR IN 2020
Texas AG Ken Paxton lashes out at a Soros-backed Texas prosecutor after an Army sergeant was found guilty of shooting a Black Lives Matter protester dead in 2020. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Following the jury’s verdict, Garza, according to a Fox affiliate in Central Texas, issued the following statement: “I’m grateful to our dedicated prosecutors and victims’ advisers for trying this case. They’ve worked hard to get a . “Full and accurate presentation of the facts to the jury. Our hearts continue to break for the Foster family. We hope this verdict brings closure and peace to the victim’s family.”
Garza’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shooting in which Sgt. Perry posed during Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in the Texas capital and the rest of the United States nearly three years ago.
Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood at the time, was driving Uber to make extra money in downtown Austin on the night of July 25, 2020, when he encountered a large crowd of protesters. According to police, they illegally blocked the city streets that night, as protesters in Austin and elsewhere had done during the weeks of rioting.
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Sergeant Daniel Perry claims he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed an armed protester in downtown Austin in the summer of 2020. (Sergeant Daniel Perry)
Among the protesters was 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was carrying an AK-47. Perry’s defense team says the protesters surrounded his vehicle and began pounding and Foster raised the firearm at Perry, prompting him to open fire with a gun he legally carried for self-defense.
“When Garrett Foster aimed his AK-47 at Daniel Perry, Daniel had two-tenths of a second to defend himself. He chose to live,” Doug O’Connell, a lawyer for Perry, transparently told Fox in a statement. .
“It might be legal in Texas to carry an assault rifle in downtown Austin. That doesn’t make it a good idea. If you point a firearm at someone, you’re responsible for everything that happens after that.”
Garrett Foster, left, was shot and killed during a protest in downtown Austin in July 2020. (KTBC)
Perry drove to a safe location away from the crime scene and called 911 to report what had happened. Officers spoke to Perry that night and released him, but a year later, in July 2021, a grand jury indicted him for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Perry is now serving life in prison awaiting sentencing.
Paul Best and Andrew Mark Miller of Fox News contributed to this article.
