July 31, 2020

Details emerging about fatal shooting of BLM ‘protester’ in Austin, TX are stunning

By Thomas Lifson

The leftist outrage machine treated the fatal shooting of BLM “protestor” Garrett Foster last Saturday night in Austin, Texas with the customary spin, compete with a touching picture from Facebook of the deceased with his fiancé. Buzzfeed, for instance:

A man was killed Saturday night after gunshots were fired at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas.

A suspect — who witnesses said tried to drive through the crowd of protesters before shooting the victim — was detained and questioned Saturday night, but was later released "pending further investigation," Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Sunday.

The victim, who had multiple gunshot wounds, was brought to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No one else was injured during the incident, authorities said.

The victim was identified by family and friends as Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old Austin resident, who was protesting along with his fiancé, Whitney Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee. Officials later confirmed his identity.

Shortly before he was killed, journalist Hiram Gilberto Garcia interviewedFoster, who was seen carrying a rifle. During the interview, Foster said that he had begun bringing his gun to protests after his roommate was arrested during one of them.

Openly carrying firearms in public places is legal in Texas, as long as it is not done "in a manner calculated to alarm," according to state law.

"They don’t let us march in the streets anymore, so I got to practice some of our rights," Foster said in the interview that was broadcast live on Periscope.

"I mean, if I use it against the cops, I'm dead, and I think all the people that hate us and want to say shit to us are too big of pussies to stop and actually do anything about it," Foster said.

Here is a YouTube clip of that interview in which Garrett rather ironically decried his opponents as “pussies.” The visage of the masked man is rather less charming (note Garrett’s eyes, the “window on the soul”) than the photo of the betrothed couple:

Hours later, the same journalist who interviewed Foster captured footage of the chaotic scene after he was fatally shot, including the sound of several gunshots.

"A car drove up — we were taking the streets — and he shot Garrett," an unnamed protester said in Garcia's video.

The protester said Foster was Mitchell's "caretaker, and has been for like 10 years."

A witness, Michael Capochiano, told the New York Times that he saw the suspect's car veer toward the crowd before the shooting, causing people to run away in fear.

But, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story” is important. Yesterday, the shooter’s legal counsel identified him and told his version of the tale. Here is the press release from Clint Broden of Broden & Micklsen:

F. Clinton Broden and Broden & Mickelsen issue the following statement on behalf of our client, Daniel Perry.

Daniel Perry is an active duty sergeant with the United States Army. He is a former Eagle Scout from the North Texas area and served our country proudly for the past eight years. Sgt. Perry served a tour in Afghanistan and has been the recipient of numerous army awards and commendations.

On the evening of July 25, 2020, Sgt. Perry was in Austin, Texas driving for a ride share company in order to earn extra money. He had dropped his client off in the vicinity of Congress Avenue. He was then going to proceed to a “hot spot” in order to wait on notification to pick up another client or to pick up food for delivery. Sgt. Perry made a right onto Congress Avenue from Fourth Street and encountered a throng of people in the street. Prior to arriving at the corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue, Sgt. Perry did not know that a demonstration was taking place.

When Sgt. Perry turned on the Congress Avenue, several people started beating on his vehicle. 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. Sgt. Perry initially believed the person was associated with law enforcement and complied with the command. After rolling down the window, it became apparent to Sgt. Perry that the individual with the assault rifle was not 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. It was only then that Sgt. Perry, who carried a handgun in his car for his own protection while driving strangers in the ride share program, fired on the person to protect his own life.

Immediately after Sgt. Perry fired on the individual who raised the assault rifle toward him, a member of the crowd began firing on Sgt. Perry’s vehicle. Sgt. Perry drove to safety and immediately called the police. He waited for the police to arrive and fully cooperated with the police following the shooting and he continues to do so.

We urge the public to allow the police to conduct a full investigation. We also need to correct statements that have been reported by the press. First, Sgt. Perry never left his vehicle preceding or immediately following the shooting. Second, Sgt. Perry did not “flee” but immediately called police upon getting to safety. Finally and most importantly, police have interviewed witnesses

who were demonstrating with Mr. Foster and these witnesses have confirmed that Mr. Foster raised his assault rifle in a direct threat to Sgt. Perry’s life.

Sgt. Perry and his family deeply sympathize with the loss and grief being experienced by Mr. Foster’s family. Sgt. Perry is devastated by what happened. Nevertheless, that does not change facts. The simple fact is that Sgt. Perry reasonably perceived a threat to his life when, as has now been confirmed by independent witnesses, Mr. Foster raised his assault rifle toward Sgt. Perry who was sitting in his car. We simply ask that anybody who might want to criticize Sgt. Perry’s actions, picture themselves trapped in a car as a masked stranger raises an assault rifle in their direction and reflect upon what they might have done if faced with the split second decision faced by Sgt. Perry that evening.

DANIEL PERRY

As always, keep in mind that our justice system is designed to get at the truth, and that process is still unfolding before our eyes. The Austin PD has not arrested Sgt. Perry, and no doubt leftists are outraged at that. Stay tuned.