AUSTIN, Texas — As the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a request from Gov. Greg Abbott to pardon Daniel Perry following his murder conviction last Friday, a Travis County judge has unsealed documents showing Perry's history of racist and threatening anti-protester comments on social media.
A jury last week convicted Perry of murder for the slaying of Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in 2020. It happened during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin.
CNN, citing a report from the Houston Chronicle, reports the documents show that Perry in May 2020, just prior to the shooting, in a Facebook message, told a friend that he “might have to kill a few people” who were rioting outside his apartment.
In a May 2020 text message, the Houston Chronicle reports, Perry told a friend that he “might go to Dallas to shoot looters.” In a 2019 message, Perry wrote it was “to [sic] bad we can’t get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.”
Some of Perry’s messages included “white power” memes, the Chronicle reported.
The newly released messages were not shown to jurors during trial.
Meanwhile, earlier this week Perry’s defense team, sighting exclusion of evidence and claims the “jury was subject to outside influence,” filed a motion for a new trial.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza on Tuesday requested a meeting with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
In July 2020, Perry, an Army sergeant, was working for ridesharing company Uber when he came upon a large demonstration in downtown Austin. Protesters began pounding on his car, and Perry’s attorneys claimed that Foster, 28, pointed a weapon at him. Acting in self-defense, Perry fatally shot Foster, his attorneys said. The jury did not agree.
Foster died on July 25, 2020.
Foster’s death came at a time when the nation took to the streets to protest the tragic police killing of George Floyd in May 2020.
Spectrum News 1 is working to get the newly unsealed documents.