By Jim Vertuno | Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — A U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of an armed protester during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Texas could be facing up to life in prison, even as Gov. Greg Abbott presses for the chance to pardon him.
The two-day sentencing hearing for Daniel Perry began Tuesday with the state presenting dozens of pages of text messages and social media posts that they said demonstrated Perry’s hostile views of the Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Perry was working as a ride-share driver in downtown Austin on the summer night in 2020 when he shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran. Foster was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle as he participated in the demonstration against police killings and racial injustice.
Perry was convicted of murder in April.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors Tuesday, Perry wrote on Facebook a month before the shooting: “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.”
Perry’s attorneys objected to the statements as taken out of context and said Perry had a right to free speech.
State District Judge Clifford Brown said although excluded at trial, the messages may be considered relevant in the punishment phase.
Forensic psychologist Greg Hupp testified that he believed Perry has post-traumatic stress disorder from his deployment to Afghanistan and being bullied as a child, and that he may also be on the autism spectrum disorder. Perry did not see combat but was near a soldier who shot themself in the head, Hupp said.
Foster’s girlfriend, Whitney Mitchell, described how she and Foster started dating shortly after high school. She described a devoted partner who took care of her everyday needs after an infection led to the amputation of her hands and feet when she was 18.
Foster joined…
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