Garrett Foster Shooting Justified...

[seer]

????

APD says officers spoke with multiple witnesses at the scene that described several different versions of the shooting. Witnesses say a vehicle started honking its horn as it turned south onto Congress from 4th Street. The vehicle stopped as there was a large number of people in the road.

Foster, who had been holding an AK-47 type assault rifle, approached the driver's side window as others began striking the vehicle. APD says gunshots than were fired from inside the vehicle at him.

Following that, another person who heard the gunfire and saw the vehicle driving away drew their concealed handgun and fired multiple shots at the vehicle as it drove away. They were brought in to be interviewed and Foster's rifle and the person's handgun were secured as evidence.

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/lawy...rmation-photos

[Sparko]

Sounds justified. His car was being attacked and someone pointed a rifle at him. Self-defense.

[seer]

Sounds justified. His car was being attacked and someone pointed a rifle at him. Self-defense.

Yep...

[Gondwanaland]

Turns out no one pointed a rifle at him (confirmed by multiple witnesses).

Just a guy legally carrying a rifle coming up to his car to ask him to go another way, when he decided to honk at protestors and drive into a crowd (after making online posts tmabout wishing he could shoot BLM protestors).

He's been found guilty this week of murder. ( Abbott seems to like him and is trying to rush a pardon through).
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04...arrett-foster/

U.S. Army sergeant found guilty of murder in 2020 shooting of Austin protester Garrett Foster
Daniel Perry, who was driving for Uber, shot 28-year-old Foster during a protest against police brutality blocks away from the state Capitol in July 2020.

BY WILLIAM MELHADO

---

A Travis County jury found Army Sgt. Daniel Perry, 33, guilty of murder on Friday, almost three years after he shot and killed Austin protester Garrett Foster.

In 2021 Perry was indicted for murder, aggravated assault and deadly conduct charges for shooting Foster during a July 2020 protest in downtown Austin. The jury also found Perry not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after deliberating for 17 hours Thursday and Friday following an eight-day trial.

The indictment came one year after Texans took to the streets to protest police brutality following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.

Foster attended an Austin protest on July 25 while Perry was downtown driving for Uber. According to police, Perry stopped his car and honked at people protesting while they walked through the street, blocks from the state Capitol. Seconds later, he drove his car into the crowd, police said.

Foster, who was a 28-year-old white man and an Air Force veteran, had been seen openly carrying an AK-47 rifle at the time, which is legal. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster raised the rifle to the driver first — but seconds later Perry, who was also legally armed, shot and killed Foster and fled the area, police said. He called the police and reported what happened, claiming he shot in self defense after Foster aimed his weapon at him. Perry is also a white man.

The case sparked debates over Texas’ “stand your ground” law, which allows people to use deadly force against someone else if they feel they are in danger. But Perry’s social media posts about retaliating against protesters raised questions about the shooter’s state of mind and his self-defense claim.

The “stand your ground” law prohibits an individual from arguing self-defense if they provoked a threat from someone else. Witnesses said that Perry seemed to drive threateningly into the crowd before shots were fired, and his actions seemed intentional.

Judge Clifford Brown said the sentencing hearing could happen as early as next Tuesday, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Perry faces at least five years in prison, but murder convictions can result in a life sentence in Texas.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tex...ng-2023-04-09/

Texas governor seeks pardon of man convicted of murder in Black Lives Matter shooting
April 8 (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday he is seeking the pardon of an Uber driver convicted of murder a day earlier in the July 2020 shooting death of a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, the state capital.

Abbott, in a post on Twitter, said he will pardon Daniel Perry, 37, a U.S. Army sergeant, as soon as a request from the parole board "hits my desk."

The Republican governor noted that he can grant pardons only on the recommendation of the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles, but that he is allowed to request pardons.

The case hinged on whether the shooting was in self-defense. A jury found on Friday that Perry, who is white, shot and killed Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old white man, who was carrying an AK-47, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

Perry was driving in the city the night of the shooting and turned his Uber vehicle onto a street where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching, according to media. Perry stopped, and several protesters including Foster approached his vehicle. Protesters told police that they feared they were being assaulted with the vehicle, according to media accounts.

Perry's defense team claimed the weapon was leveled at him and he had no choice but to fire his pistol in self-defense, the newspaper reported. Neither of Perry's attorneys was immediately available for comment by phone or email.

Perry was convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for 17 hours in the eight-day trial, according to media accounts.

“I will work as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” Abbott wrote on Twitter.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand your ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive district attorney," he said. "Additionally, I have already prioritized reining in rogue District Attorneys, and the Texas Legislature is working on laws to achieve that goal."

Jose Garza, the district attorney for Travis County, where the case was tried and where Austin is located, is a Democrat, and has been in office since Jan. 1, 2021.

When the verdict was read, Perry buried his head into the chest of one of his lawyers and sobbed, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

“We’re happy with the verdict. We’re very sorry for his family as well. There’s no winners in this,” said Stephen Foster, the victim’s father, according to the newspaper.

Perry faces life in prison and is due to be sentenced by State District Court Judge Clifford Brown on Tuesday, according to online court records for the 147th District Court in Travis County, Texas.

[seanD]

Turns out no one pointed a rifle at him (confirmed by multiple witnesses).

Just a guy legally carrying a rifle coming up to his car to ask him to go another way, when he decided to honk at protestors and drive into a crowd (after making online posts tmabout wishing he could shoot BLM protestors).

He's been found guilty this week of murder. ( Abbott seems to like him and is trying to rush a pardon through).
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04...arrett-foster/


https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tex...ng-2023-04-09/

From the videos I've seen where BLM protesters surround and provoke pedestrians in vehicles, sorry if I don't by that narrative. BLM is also full of notorious liars, like the "hands up don't shoot" narrative lie that was supposedly seen by eyewitnesses, which gives further reason to chuck the "multiple eyewitnesses" claim out the window. I hope he gets pardoned.

[Gondwanaland]

From the videos I've seen where BLM protesters surround and provoke pedestrians in vehicles, sorry if I don't by that narrative. BLM is also full of notorious liars, like the "hands up don't shoot" narrative lie that was supposedly seen by eyewitnesses, which gives further reason to chuck the "multiple eyewitnesses" claim out the window. I hope he gets pardoned.

The jury felt differently, and the murderer made numerous posts fantasizing about doing exactly what he did.

also note that Foster's own statement to the police didnt claim the gun was pointed at him either, he claimed that he thought the person legally open carrying MIGHT point it at him. Sounds like you are anti 2nd amendment if you want to support this man's right to murder someone exercising his 2nd amendment rights.

Any other case that would be straight up motive and a pretty good conviction on its own, but magically its different when the person legally open carrying is from a group you dont like? Nah, bud.

[rogue06]

The jury felt differently, and the murderer made numerous posts fantasizing about doing exactly what he did.

That right there could be enough to do it. My late attorney friend often warned how signs like

gc1b.jpggc1a.jpg
2lng.jpg

can be used to show a predisposition to wanting to use the firearm and not necessarily just for self-defense.

[Gondwanaland]

That right there could be enough to do it. My late attorney friend often warned how signs like

gc1b.jpggc1a.jpg
2lng.jpg

can be used to show a predisposition to wanting to use the firearm and not necessarily just for self-defense.

Yep.


Among his statements on social media the days leading up to the murder were:

"I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex," and "I might go to Dallas to shoot looters."

[tabibito]

The jury felt differently, and the murderer made numerous posts fantasizing about doing exactly what he did.

also note that Foster's own statement to the police didnt claim the gun was pointed at him either, he claimed that he thought the person legally open carrying MIGHT point it at him. Sounds like you are anti 2nd amendment if you want to support this man's right to murder someone exercising his 2nd amendment rights.

Any other case that would be straight up motive and a pretty good conviction on its own, but magically its different when the person legally open carrying is from a group you dont like? Nah, bud.

This bloke was no Rittenhouse. This time, I think the governor should let the jury's decision stand.

[Sparko]

also note that Foster's own statement to the police didnt claim the gun was pointed at him either, he claimed that he thought the person legally open carrying MIGHT point it at him. Sounds like you are anti 2nd amendment if you want to support this man's right to murder someone exercising his 2nd amendment rights.

Foster was the victim not the shooter, Daniel Perry.

[Sparko]

I think it depends on whether Foster was starting to aim at Perry or not. It's a judgment call. Imagine the situation where Foster looks Perry dead in the eye and starts to raise his weapon at him. I can see that being self-defense to shoot while he is raising his gun before it is actually aimed at Perry.

But it does seem to be a good thing for a Jury to decide. They can hear the testimony and decide whether the shooting was justified or if Perry just shot out of fear without a good reason for self defense.

My brother who is a former cop said: "The law normally considers it self defense if a person has a legitimate fear of death or serious physical injury. I would say it would be difficult to judge his actions based on that statement alone. I had read he was surrounded by people yelling and attacking his car so if someone in the attacking crowd suddenly produced a weapon a reasonable person may feel his life is in danger."

ETA: Brother also said, "The investigation led the police to conclude he acted in self defense and they refused to charge him. The lead investigator has also accused the DA of making him remove about 100 pages of evidence from the info that was presented to the Grand Jury or at trial."

https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanAFour...916865/photo/1

[Gondwanaland]

Foster was the victim not the shooter, Daniel Perry.

Ah yep mixed the named up in my post. Perry admitted to the police that the gun was not aimed or raised at him (which lines up with the multiple eyewitnesses), just that he magically mind read and decided the person exercising his rights might do that

[Mountain Man]

ETA: Brother also said, "The investigation led the police to conclude he acted in self defense and they refused to charge him. The lead investigator has also accused the DA of making him remove about 100 pages of evidence from the info that was presented to the Grand Jury or at trial."

https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanAFour...916865/photo/1

I read that as he was forced to remove 100 pages of exculpatory evidence, because why else would the DA not present it to the grand jury?

[Sparko]

I read that as he was forced to remove 100 pages of exculpatory evidence, because why else would the DA not present it to the grand jury?

Not sure that the DA has to present exculpatory evidence to a Grand Jury in Texas, but if you read the statement by the investigator at the link above, he also kept the evidence from the actual jury at the trial too. And that is clearly illegal.

But even if they don't have to present exculpatory evidence at a Grand Jury, they should if they want a fair result and are not just seeking to railroad a defendant. Especially exculpatory evidence that the police themselves have and why they are refusing to charge the defendant.