Daniel Perry, who shot and killed a man who was carrying an AK-47 at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, was found guilty of murder by a jury on Friday in Texas.
Perry had been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting Garrett Foster in July 2020. Perry, who claimed self-defense, was convicted of the murder charge but was found not guilty on the aggravated assault charge.
Perry was not initially charged with any crimes after the incident, but in 2021 District Attorney Jose Garza took office and decided to prosecute Perry. Garza is one of many district attorneys whose campaign was backed by billionaire Democrat megadonor George Soros.
David Fugitt, the lead investigating detective in the case, said in a 2021 affidavit that Garza acted with “criminal behavior” in the case.
“I had several conversations with the District Attorney’s Office regarding the presentation of exculpatory evidence related to Daniel Perry,” Fugitt said. “It became clear to me that the District Attorney’s Office did not want to present evidence to the grand jury that would be exculpatory to Daniel Perry.”
“On more than one occasion I was directed by the Travis County Attorney’s Office to remove exculpatory information that I had intended to present to the grand jury during my testimony,” he said. “Of my original 158 slide powerpoint presentation, the presentation was reduced to 56 slides with almost all of the exculpatory evidence ordered removed. I felt like I did not have any other options but to comply with their orders.”
Fugitt said that Garza’s directive to forbid exculpatory evidence from being shown during the case “is when the conduct of the District Attorney’s Office [went] from highly unethical behavior to criminal behavior.”
Fugitt said that Garza’s office “tampered” with him as a witness in a criminal manner.
Daniel Perry case — read the affidavit from the lead detective, claiming that the Soros DA directed him "to remove exculpatory information that I had intended to present to the grand jury during my testimony."
This detective believes the Soros DA acted criminally. pic.twitter.com/3iDhWUZLkh
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) April 8, 2023
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) began facing calls Friday evening to pardon Perry over the ruling.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) tweeted, “Governor Abbott, don’t let a Soros-owned Austin liberal DA destroy our justice system in Texas. You need to PARDON Daniel Perry IMMEDIATELY!”
Governor Abbott, don’t let a Soros-owned Austin liberal DA destroy our justice system in Texas. You need to PARDON Daniel Perry IMMEDIATELY!
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) April 8, 2023
“Everyone needs to let @GregAbbott_TX know about the atrocity of the Daniel Perry prosecution,” political commentator Mike Cernovich tweeted. “Soros DA has made self-defense illegal in Texas. What will Gov Abbott do?”
Attorney Kurt Schlichter added, “Over 12 hours and nothing here about the grave injustice done to Daniel Perry. What the hell, @GregAbbott_TX ?”