Newly unsealed court documents show that Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant convicted of murdering a racial justice protester at a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally, talked about killing people and repeatedly made racist comments, per a Houston Chronicle report.
The messages, unsealed by a Travis County judge on Thursday, were sent over the course of several years and were originally filed on March 27.
Perry, a 35-year-old white man, fatally wounded another white man, Garrett Foster, after shooting him in the chest four times at the 2020 rally. Foster was protesting the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
The newly revealed documents show that in May of 2020, several weeks ahead of the shooting, Perry wrote in a Facebook message that he "might have to kill" some of the individuals protesting outside his apartment.
Perry also sent a text in the same month that read, "I might go to Dallas to shoot looters," and included other "white power" memes.
The Houston Chronicle also reported a 2019 message written by Perry saying that it was "to [sic] bad we can't get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe."
Holy shit. This is the guy who Greg Abbott has promised to pardon for murder.
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) April 14, 2023
This is ONE PAGE of the 76 just released. Here, Daniel Perry says “I will only shoot the [protestors] in front and push the pedal to the metal.” pic.twitter.com/Bg8r7SUtQH
Perry repeatedly made racist comments about the Black Lives Matter protests.
"It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo. I was on the side of the protestors until they started with the looting and the violence," he wrote in June 2020.
The documents also show that Perry also compared "black lives matter movement to a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their sh*t."
In another post from May 31, 2020, Perry wrote, "If this symbol represents racism in America… (shows confederate flag) SO DO THESE (shows NAACP logo, Hispanic Scholarship fund, America Association for Affirmative Action, BET, UNCP, the democratic party logo, etc."
Following Perry's conviction, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott rushed to his aid, seeking a pardon for Perry.
Abbott wrote in a tweet that he was "working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry."
"I have made that request and instructed the Board to expedite its review," Abbott said in a statement. "I look forward to approving the Board's pardon as soon as it hits my desk."
In addition to his murder conviction, Perry was found not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A deadly conduct charge is still pending.
I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry. pic.twitter.com/HydwdzneMU
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 8, 2023
