Jurors view police videos of Daniel Perry describing how he killed protester Garrett Foster

Claire Osborn, Austin American-Statesman
·4 min read
10
District Judge Clifford Brown is presiding over the trial of Daniel Perry, an Uber driver and Army sergeant who is accused of murder in the death of Austin protester Garrett Foster on July 25, 2020.
District Judge Clifford Brown is presiding over the trial of Daniel Perry, an Uber driver and Army sergeant who is accused of murder in the death of Austin protester Garrett Foster on July 25, 2020.

On the fifth day of the murder trial of Daniel Perry, jurors for the first time heard in the Uber driver’s own voice his version of what happened that night in 2020 when he shot and killed protester Garrett Foster in downtown Austin. If convicted, Perry faces up to life in prison.

In a series of taped interviews with Austin police detectives played for jurors Monday, Perry described his encounter with protesters amassed on Congress Avenue and with Foster, who was carrying an AK-47 rifle.

Perry told investigators in an interview at police headquarters shortly after the shooting that he had just dropped off a customer and received a text from a girl he was interested in, so he started texting her while he was driving.

Perry said the girl sent him a text asking him for money, "and when I looked up, the protesters were right there."

"The protesters were all around me, banging on the side of the car, hitting me with spray paint cans. One guy (Foster) wanted to talk to me," he said in the interview.

Perry said he rolled down his window to see what Foster wanted and that Foster mumbled something at him and then raised his weapon.

"That's when I got my weapon and pulled the trigger as fast as I could, and then drove away and called 911," Perry said.

More: Officer testifies Austin protester Garrett Foster had been warned about way he carried his rifle

Perry, who is also an Army sergeant, was traveling on Fourth Street on the night of July 25, 2020, and turned onto Congress Avenue, where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching. Perry stopped, and several protesters approached his car, including Foster, police have said. Protesters have said they feared they were being attacked by someone in a car. Defense lawyers have said Foster, 28, raised his AK-47 at Perry, and that Perry, 37, fired in self-defense.

Witnesses have said during the trial that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry. One said he fired shots at Perry's car after Foster was shot as Perry was leaving the scene.

Homicide detective David Fugitt, who was interviewing Perry right after the shooting, asked him to describe what Foster looked like.

Daniel Perry, 38, is on trial in the death of Garrett Foster during a social injustice protest in Austin in July 2020 .He has said he shot Foster in self-defense.
Daniel Perry, 38, is on trial in the death of Garrett Foster during a social injustice protest in Austin in July 2020 .He has said he shot Foster in self-defense.

"He was overweight, Caucasian, but I didn't get a good look at his face," Perry said.

He said he was more focused on Foster's AK-47. He said Foster was holding his weapon parallel to the ground but then lifted it up, with his finger on the trigger, before Perry shot him.

Perry said he shot five rounds at Foster and "saw him drop" before driving away. He also told the detective that he shot Foster in the center of his body because that's how he was taught to do it in the Army.

He said the protesters shot at him before he drove away.

"I didn't even know what they were protesting about," Perry said.

More: Lawyers have differing views on what really happened when Austin protester Garrett Foster was killed

Another police officer who was sitting in the interview room with Perry told him the protests had been going on for weeks in Austin.

Perry cried off and on as spoke to officers at the Police Department and constantly said, "I'm sorry."

He said he was driving in Austin for Uber on the weekends because the tips were better than in Killeen.

He also told the officer who was driving him to the Police Department after the shooting that "I really hope the guy (Foster) is OK and he makes a full recovery. … Nobody deserves to die."

In a phone call with Fugitt after the initial interview at the police station, Perry said he didn't know what race Foster was.

Fugitt also asked Perry why he had told his lawyer that he thought Foster might be a police officer. Perry answered that Foster was dressed in black, like border guards in Germany. Perry had been stationed in Germany in the Army.

Austin protester Garrett Foster, 28, right, was killed on July 25, 2020. He was the caretaker for his partner, Whitney Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee.
Austin protester Garrett Foster, 28, right, was killed on July 25, 2020. He was the caretaker for his partner, Whitney Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee.

More: Trial in death of Austin protester Garrett Foster begins. Was it self-defense or murder?

Perry also told Fugitt, "They say I have acute anxiety disorder from the whole situation."

A prosecution witness, police senior crime analyst Pam Mazak, said Monday that data from Perry's cellphone showed he was not texting when he drove into the Black Lives Matter protest. He sent his last text message four blocks away from the shooting and two minutes before it, she said.

The last message was sent at 9:50 p.m., she said. The next call from his cellphone was at 9:52 p.m. to 911, she said.

The prosecution rested its case Monday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Daniel Perry said he shot 5 times at Austin protester, hoped victim ok