Army Sgt. found guilty in BLM protester’s killing: report

An active-duty Army sergeant on Friday was found guilty in the killing of a Black Lives Matter protester, The Austin Chronicle reports.

Daniel Perry was found guilty of murder in the 2020 shooting death of Garrett Foster at the end of a two-week trial after a jury deliberated the case for 16 hours, the report said. Perry is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.

“We’re thankful for the legal team that represented us, and the jury, and we’re happy with the verdict,” Stephen Foster, the victim’s father said, according to the report.

“We’re very sorry for [Perry’s] family, as well, and we’re just glad it’s over.”

The shooting occurred on July 25, 2020, after Perry drove into an area of around 20 BLM protesters in downtown Austin. As protesters started slapping and kicking his car. Foster, who was openly carrying an AK-47, approached the driver’s side door and made a comment, and then Perry fired five shots at Foster’s chest.

Perry turned himself in, but Austin police let him go after he claimed he was acting in self-defense when Foster threatened him with the assault rifle.

Prosecutors showed the jury text messages and social media posts indicating animosity toward BLM protesters.

The Chronicle’s Brant Bingamon reported that “testimony confirming Perry's anger toward protesters came on the third day of the trial as prosecutors displayed text messages and social media comments showing that he thought about killing them. 'I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex,' Perry wrote to a friend in June of 2020.

"'I might go to Dallas to shoot looters,' he wrote on another occasion. Perry also encouraged violence in a variety of social media posts.”

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