Morning Wire
Exclusive: Daniel Perry Breaks Silence on Justice and Politics | 11.24.24
Sun, 24 Nov 2024
Former Army Sergeant Daniel Perry shares his story of self-defense, a controversial conviction, and a political pardon in an exclusive interview. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.Birch Gold: Text "WIRE" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit.
Chapter 1: What happened to Daniel Perry during the BLM protest?
Daniel Perry, a former army sergeant, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an armed BLM protester during the summer of 2020. After spending more than a year behind bars, Perry was granted a full pardon by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in May of this year.
Now he's speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Daily Wire and accusing the district attorney who convicted him of political targeting.
My entire belief system of the justice system was destroyed because I felt like it was weaponized against me.
In this episode, we hear from Perry and the reporter who sat down with him for his first public comments on his controversial case. I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's November 24th, and this is a Sunday edition of Morning Wire.
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Chapter 2: What are the details of Daniel Perry's conviction?
Joining us now is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo, who conducted an exclusive interview with Daniel Perry. Hey, Amanda. So you spoke to Perry about the incident and the politically charged aftermath. This is the first time he's talked to the media since he was pardoned. First, can you recap the case for listeners who might not be familiar?
Sure. Perry, who was then 30 years old, was stationed outside of Austin, Texas in 2020, and he was working as an Uber driver for some extra cash. On July 25th, after he dropped off a passenger, he found himself in the midst of a Black Lives Matter protest where at least two protesters were armed.
We'll hear from Perry in his own words about that incident, but he ended up fatally shooting Garrett Foster. Foster approached Perry's car window while open carrying a loaded AK-47. Perry and Foster are both white males and both veterans. Perry was later charged with murder by a liberal George Soros-backed DA named Jose Garza.
Perry was convicted of murder in April of 2023, and a year after that, in May of 2024, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a full pardon to Perry, and he called out Garza for what he said were politically motivated actions.
So a dramatic turn of events for Perry. Let's start from the beginning. What did Perry tell you about the night of the incident?
He told me that he had no intention of ending up near the protest, and when he realized he was by a crowd of people, he stopped his vehicle. Here's what he says happened from there.
A guy jumped in front of my vehicle so I couldn't drive any further, and somebody threw a water bottle at my windshield. That's when I honked my horn. They start rocking and shaking my car and banging on the fist and kicking it. And the guy approached me with an AK-47 and he motioned me to roll my windows down and At this point in time, I'm kind of in a state of shock and I complied with him.
I don't know why I complied with him, but I complied, wrote my orders down. He said something that was completely muffled. I had no idea what he was saying. And then he takes two steps back and he points, starts raising the barrel of his AK-47 at me. And my body reacted on its own. I grabbed my revolver and I shot him.
Perry said he sped away to try to get to safety and he heard gunshots going off behind him. There was a second shooter in the crowd, but Perry said he thought he had missed Foster and Foster was now trying to kill him. The second shooter left three bullet holes in Perry's vehicle.
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Chapter 3: How did the political climate affect Perry's case?
But that all changed. He started to receive death threats over the incident, and he told me that the Army stationed him in Alaska to protect his safety. At the same time, Perry said Garza was campaigning for DA on getting justice for Foster. Garza was elected and then secured an indictment against Perry.
At that time, Perry's defense said that the indictment was politically motivated and unusual since they were unable to present a written presentation to the grand jury. I asked Perry how he was feeling going into the trial.
Honestly, I felt like the justice system was going to work in my favor because I believe I did nothing wrong, you know? But at the back of my mind, I believed that the DA was going to tip the scales and pick me out at a slight disadvantage.
The trial was controversial. In one instance, a juror printed out outside research and then presented it to fellow jurors. The defense sought a new trial over that and other issues, but the judge agreed with prosecution that the jurors' actions were okay. In another controversy, the lead investigator on the case, Brent Fugit, testified that Garza's office tampered with him as a witness.
He said he was ordered to remove all exculpatory evidence that would have helped Perry.
I had no idea that the jury instruction was going to be as complicated as they were going to be. And I had no idea that there was jury members bringing in outside information to the trial to use it to change the mind of the other members of the jury. I also had no idea about the witness tampering.
They also did not allow the police support in my trial, and they did not allow the lead detective to give his professional opinion about my case.
Perry was convicted on April 8th, 2023 for the murder of Foster, and he was later sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
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Chapter 4: What were the controversies during Daniel Perry's trial?
I felt like I was betrayed by the American people, even though that's not really true. It was just to see Austin and that I was never going to see my parents again alive. I broke up with my fiance because I thought I was never going to see her again. I told her that I cannot provide her with the family that she deserved.
She needed to move on and find somebody that can be, you know, her husband and, you know, help her raise a family. And that was the hardest thing I ever had to do.
After Perry was convicted, Governor Abbott announced that he would be asking the Texas Parole Board to review Perry's case, and if a recommendation was made, he would move swiftly to give Perry a full pardon. Abbott said, this is a quote, Perry spent 13 months behind bars before Abbott received the go-ahead from the board to grant that full pardon.
Texas AG Ken Paxton said that justice had prevailed in reaction to the pardon, and he said Soros-backed prosecutors like Jose Garza do not get to pick and choose the rights Americans have. Perry, who is Jewish, said that it was his faith in God that got him through.
I felt that God has answered my prayers. I don't know many prayers by heart, but I did the Shema three times a day. And then a few days later, I found out that, you know, the governor actually said that about me and actually brought me hope. I felt like I was blessed, to be honest.
Perry told me that Garza and the DA's office have taken actions against him that he feels are both politically motivated and personal. In one instance, Perry believes Garza's office was behind the push to get him a less than honorable discharge from the military.
The district attorney got involved with my discharge process to ensure that I wouldn't get an honorable discharge. I wish I still had a copy of my discharge packet. There was a letter with the official district attorney of Travis County letterhead on it stating that the government statements about me being innocent was just political and that I am in fact a convicted murderer.
He won the conviction. He didn't have to take the extra steps to make sure that all my military benefits would be stripped away from me and sold my rank. So my unit, they tried their hardest to make sure that I would stay in, that there was a place for me to return. But the Army legal office got involved and took it out of their hands.
Court documents were also unsealed showing private messages on Perry's phone after Governor Abbott signaled that he was looking to issue a pardon. At the time, Perry's defense called that move a political decision by the district attorney.
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Chapter 5: What led to Daniel Perry's pardon?
Chapter 6: How does Daniel Perry feel about the justice system?
I felt that God has answered my prayers. I don't know many prayers by heart, but I did the Shema three times a day. And then a few days later, I found out that, you know, the governor actually said that about me and actually brought me hope. I felt like I was blessed, to be honest.
Perry told me that Garza and the DA's office have taken actions against him that he feels are both politically motivated and personal. In one instance, Perry believes Garza's office was behind the push to get him a less than honorable discharge from the military.
The district attorney got involved with my discharge process to ensure that I wouldn't get an honorable discharge. I wish I still had a copy of my discharge packet. There was a letter with the official district attorney of Travis County letterhead on it stating that the government statements about me being innocent was just political and that I am in fact a convicted murderer.
He won the conviction. He didn't have to take the extra steps to make sure that all my military benefits would be stripped away from me and sold my rank. So my unit, they tried their hardest to make sure that I would stay in, that there was a place for me to return. But the Army legal office got involved and took it out of their hands.
Court documents were also unsealed showing private messages on Perry's phone after Governor Abbott signaled that he was looking to issue a pardon. At the time, Perry's defense called that move a political decision by the district attorney.
Some of the private messages discussed guns and shooting protesters if they were to attack Perry, and other messages were racial in nature and, by Perry's own description, offensive. Perry says the messages were mostly between himself and his military buddies, some of whom are Black, and they were taken out of context. He also believes that releasing those messages was an act of retaliation.
We don't see race in the military. We all agree the same, and we're all best friends, you know, and we see something funny. Doesn't matter how bad it is, you know, we share with each other, you know. So if you ever were able to sit in a room for active-duty soldiers and hear the conversations they have on the board, A lot of people will be offended, except for the soldiers or veterans.
We like dirty jokes in the military. We like offensive jokes in the military.
As we noted at the top, Perry has not spoken to the media about the incident or the pardon until now. He told me that he's only speaking to the Daily Wire because he thinks Garza is unjustly prosecuting others for political reasons. Notably, Garza has indicted more than 20 Austin police officers for their actions during the violent 2020 BLM riots.
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