AUSTIN, Texas — Days after Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned former U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, it was revealed that Austin Police Department Interim Chief of Police Robin J. Henderson drafted but did not send a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles detailing her support for Perry’s request for clemency.
Perry was serving a 25-year sentence for shooting and killing 28-year-old Garrett Foster during a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin. Perry was working for rideshare company Uber at the time of the shooting. He was sentenced in May 2023.
In the letter, Henderson said Perry was “deprived of his due process rights.”
She cited the findings of now-retired APD homicide detective David Fugitt, who was assigned to the investigation into Foster’s killing and believed Perry’s prosecution “was not based on the merits of direct evidence, but by conjecture, innuendo, character assassination, and more importantly, the exclusion of exculpatory evidence.”
Perry said he was trying to drive past a crowd of protesters when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Perry claimed he acted in self-defense when he fired his pistol at Foster.
“APD’s investigation showed that Mr. Perry had the right to be on the public roadway, in the incorporated city limits of Austin, Travis County, Texas, that he did not provoke an armed encounter with Garrett Foster or engage in criminal activity other than a traffic violation, and that he acted justifiably in self-defense under Texas Penal Code Sec. 9.32 – (Deadly Force in Defense of Person. Justified Homicide),” Henderson wrote in the letter.
Henderson went on to say Foster’s death was a “justified homicide” and Perry acted in self-defense.
“We collectively feel that for justice to be served, a full pardon and restoration of his firearm rights should be granted to Mr. Perry,” Henderson wrote.
Henderson drafted but did not send the letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which decides which offenders are eligible for parole or mandatory supervision.
“After discussions with City leadership, as is the standard in certain situations, I decided not to submit the letter,” Henderson said.
On May 16, the board voted unanimously to recommend a full pardon and a restoration of firearm rights to Perry. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott granted Perry a full pardon that same day and restored his firearm rights.