Man who killed BLM protester shared racist content, new documents show

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Daniel Perry, the man who killed a Black Lives Matter protester at a rally in Austin in July 2020, regularly shared racist memes and content in private messages and social media posts, including descriptions of killing protesters and minorities, newly unsealed court documents reveal.

Some of Perry’s messages and posts were previously known — including a May 2020 message in which he said he “might have to kill a few people on my way to work,” referring to protesters near his apartment complex. But the new 76-page document includes more evidence, revealing the scope and consistency of the violent content.

The documents, which were shared online by the Houston Chronicle on Thursday, have become public just days after Perry, a 37-year-old Army sergeant and ride-sharing driver, was convicted of murdering 28-year-old Garrett Foster. Shortly after Perry’s conviction, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said he was seeking an expedited pardon for Perry, citing the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense laws. Travis County District Attorney José Garza called it “deeply troubling.” Perry has not been sentenced yet.

Texas governor wants to pardon man who killed Black Lives Matter protester

Abbott’s office, Perry’s lawyer and the Travis County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.

In the unsealed documents, Perry is seen justifying and joking about harming protesters. In a 2020 Facebook post, for example, he likens Black Lives Matter protesters to monkeys. “I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo,” he wrote. “I was on the side” of the protesters, he wrote, until they “started with the looting and the violence.”

A meme the unsealed document says he engaged with reads: “If rioters come to your area, please remember, don’t be a litterbug. Pick up your brass” — slang for bullets.

Several items in the document include racist or discriminatory content, such as a 2019 message in which Perry suggested he would like to “get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.” Memes that he shared joked about racially profiling neighbors and scolding a theoretical daughter for having a crush on a person of color.

In July 2020, Perry sped his car onto a street in Austin that was crowded with protesters, blaring his horn. Foster, a protester, approached Perry’s side window with an AK-47 rifle strapped to his chest (open carry is legal in Texas), and Perry fatally shot him.

Perry’s legal team argued the move was self-defense and that Foster had raised his rifle at Perry, but witnesses that testified at the trial said Foster never raised his weapon, the Austin-American Statesman reported. Perry now faces the possibility of a life in prison.