New York Attorney General Letitia James and 13 other Democrat attorneys general have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open a federal criminal civil rights investigation into Daniel Perry, who was recently pardoned by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after being sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing an armed Black Lives Matter protester who confronted him.
“We urge the Department to open an investigation into whether Mr. Perry violated federal criminal law, including specifically several federal criminal civil rights laws,” Ms. James and the 13 other Democrat attorneys general wrote in the letter. “We note that whether or not Texas law gives Mr. Perry a defense to state prosecution for his actions here, Texas law does not prevent a federal prosecution for Mr. Perry’s act of killing someone for racial reasons in order to prevent him from exercising constitutional rights.”
Mr. Perry has maintained he acted in self-defense when he shot Mr. Foster, who confronted Mr. Perry while wielding his rifle in a potentially threatening manner during a protest on July 25, 2020.
Much of the controversy over the legitimacy of the shooting has centered on whether Mr. Foster actually pointed his firearm at Mr. Perry and threatened his life or whether Mr. Perry fired without provocation.
Ms. James and the Democrat attorneys general coalition argued in a statement that Mr. Perry acted with intent to disrupt peaceful protesters when, while working as a ride-share driver in the summer of 2020, he drove up to a column of protesters and, after being confronted by Mr. Garrett, shot him multiple times.
“The coalition of attorneys general is concerned that in pardoning Mr. Perry, Governor Abbott is signaling that ’stand your ground' laws will protect vigilantes who seek out racial justice protests just to shoot and kill protesters,” the group wrote in a statement from Ms. James’s office.
Mr. Abbott’s office and Mr. Perry’s attorney didn’t respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. A Department of Justice spokesperson declined further comment.
More Details
Ms. James and the other attorneys general argue that a potential civil rights investigation by the DOJ—and possible federal criminal charges against Mr. Perry—are the correct recourse for what they argue wasn’t an act of self-defense on Mr. Perry’s part but one of “hate.”“Mr. Foster was openly carrying a firearm at the protest—an act that is legal in Texas—and Mr. Perry claimed that he had acted in self-defense, relying on Texas’ so-called ’stand your ground‘ law,” they wrote in the letter to Mr. Garland. “The undersigned Attorneys General are concerned that these ’stand your ground’ laws encourage vigilantes to attend protests armed and ready to shoot and kill those who exercise their First Amendment rights.”
The coalition also objected to Mr. Abbott’s decision to pardon Mr. Perry, arguing that Texas’s “stand your ground” law provides an “incredibly broad self-defense justification for criminal conduct.”
On the night of the shooting, Mr. Perry was working as a ride-share driver and had turned onto a street where Mr. Foster and dozens of other protesters were marching. After Mr. Foster approached Mr. Perry’s car carrying an AK-47 rifle and began to raise the rifle toward Mr. Perry, the former Army sergeant shot Mr. Foster, his attorneys said previously in his defense.
Prosecutors had claimed Mr. Perry had maliciously driven into a crowd of protesters and that Mr. Foster had the right to approach him and investigate.
Mr. Perry served 372 days of his sentence before being freed following Mr. Abbott’s pardon earlier this month.
The Pardon
Mr. Abbott issued a proclamation on May 16 indicating that Mr. Perry has been granted a full pardon and restoration of full civil rights of citizenship.The Texas governor also took aim at Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza for allegedly directing the lead investigator to withhold exculpatory evidence and demonstrating “unethical and biased misuse” of his office in prosecuting Mr. Perry.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Mr. Abbott said in a statement announcing the pardon. “I thank the Board for its thorough investigation, and I approve their pardon recommendation.”
Mr. Garza told The Epoch Times that the pardon sends a message to those Travis County community members who served on the grand jury that their service is meaningless.
“To the family and friends of Garrett Foster, and to the people of Travis County, we will not stop fighting for justice,” Mr. Garza said.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told The Epoch Times that Mr. Garza’s office has a “notorious reputation for engaging in politically biased prosecutions.”
Mr. von Spakovsky also expressed reservations as to the claims made in the letter from the Democrat attorneys general calling for a federal civil rights probe into the matter.
“I have no doubt that these AGs are providing a one-sided account in their letter and I don’t put much stock in whatever claims they are making, particularly New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has demonstrated that she is an unethical prosecutor more interested in politics than objective justice,” he said.
He added that, while he hasn’t examined Mr. Perry’s case in detail on the merits, he believes both the parole board and Mr. Abbott did so before taking their respective decisions earlier this month regarding Mr. Perry’s pardon and so he has more confidence in their position over that of Ms. James.
Ms. James’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on Mr. von Spakovsky’s remarks.
Background
Mr. Perry, who was working as an Uber driver at the time of the shooting, traveled to Austin in July 2020 for work, according to a statement he provided through his attorneys.After dropping a client off, Mr. Perry drove his vehicle onto Congress Avenue and encountered the protest, which was blocking the road. His attorney said that Mr. Perry was unaware of the demonstration before encountering the group.
“When Sgt. Perry turned on the Congress Avenue, several people started beating on his vehicle,” the statement said. “An individual carrying an assault rifle, now known to be Garrett Foster, quickly approached the car and then motioned with the assault rifle for Mr. Perry to lower his window.”
Mr. Perry complied with the request, initially believing that Mr. Foster was with law enforcement.
“It has now been confirmed by several witnesses that this individual with the assault rifle then began to raise the assault rifle toward Sgt. Perry,” his lawyer said in the statement. “It was only then that Sgt. Perry, who carried a handgun in his car for his protection while driving strangers in the ride-share program, fired on the person to protect his own life.”
After Mr. Perry shot Mr. Foster, another person in the crowd began firing on Mr. Perry’s vehicle, prompting him to speed away and, after reaching a safe location, to call the police.
Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Perry had provoked the shooting by driving into the crowd of protesters.
His attorneys argued that prosecutors withheld key evidence from the jury that suggested Mr. Foster was the aggressor. For instance, his attorneys sought to introduce evidence of three incidents that they said showed Mr. Foster had previously tried to intimidate cars on public streets.
The Board of Pardons and Paroles said in its May 16 statement that, after a “thorough review of the amassed information,” it concluded that Mr. Perry had acted lawfully and recommended he be pardoned.
