PROCLAMATION
BY THE
Governor of the State of Texas
PROCLAMATION No. 2024-0001
DPS #07666731
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME:
WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry, TDCJ #02450686, D.O.B. April 24, 1987, was
sentenced in the 147th District Court in Travis County on May 10, 2023, to twenty-
five years in prison for the offense of Murder, Cause No. D-1-DC-21-900007; and
WHEREAS, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has conducted an exhaustive
review of Daniel Scott Perry’s personal history and the facts surrounding his shooting
of Garrett Foster; and
WHEREAS, both the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and
Article I, Section 23, of the Texas Constitution protect the right to keep and bear arms
for, among other things, self-defense; and
WHEREAS, Texas law, consistent with those constitutional guarantees, provides one of
the clearest self-defense protections in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Texas Penal Code § 9.32(a) provides that a person “is justified in using
deadly force against another” when that person “reasonably believes the deadly force
is immediately necessary” to protect a person against another’s use of unlawful deadly
force; and
WHEREAS, Texas Penal Code § 9.32(c) provides that a person who is otherwise
lawfully present at the location where deadly force is used “is not required to retreat
before using deadly force”; and
WHEREAS, on July 25, 2020, Daniel Scott Perry, while driving on a public road in
Austin, slowed his vehicle as he rounded a corner onto Congress Avenue and
encountered a group of protestors obstructing traffic; and
WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry’s car was immediately surrounded by aggressive
protestors who rushed to obstruct, strike, pound, smash, and kick his vehicle; and
WHEREAS, Garrett Foster then approached within 18 inches of Daniel Scott Perry’s
car, confronted him, and brandished a Kalashnikov-style rifle in the low-ready firing
position; and
WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry fired his handgun at Garrett Foster to eliminate a
perceived threat to his safety and called law enforcement less than one minute later to
inform them of the incident; and
WHEREAS, Daniel Scott Perry explained to law enforcement at the time that he used
his weapon because he feared losing his life and has since consistently stated that he
acted in self-defense; and
WHEREAS, Travis County District Attorney José Garza, rather than upholding the self-
defense rights of citizens, has prioritized “reducing access to guns” that citizens may
use to lawfully defend themselves; and
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE
SECRETARY OF STATE
1:25 PM O’CLOCK
MAY 16 2024

US stocks retreated from a record high, ending a multi-day rally that had been spurred along this week by signs of easing inflation.

A late-session dip resulted in the benchmark S&P 500 closing 0.2 per cent lower on Thursday. Wall Street’s benchmark had been as much as 0.3 per cent higher in early trading to set a record intraday high.

Consumer staples was the S&P 500’s best-performing sector, as Walmart shares leapt 7 per cent to a record high, while basic materials was the index’s worst-performing group.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3 per cent, ending a three-session winning streak. The small-cap focused Russell 2000 declined 0.6 per cent.

Traders sold Treasuries, pushing the yield on the two-year note up 0.06 percentage points to 4.80 per cent. The yield on the 10-year note rose 0.02 percentage points to 4.38 per cent.

A lawyer for the family of Roger Fortson insisted Thursday that the body camera video from the Florida sheriff’s deputy who killed the Black Air Force senior airman and police radio audio support their assertion that the deputy went to the wrong apartment while responding to a domestic disturbance call that day.

At a news conference, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump played audio from a police radio in which a dispatcher says that a “fourth party” gave them information about the location of the disturbance.

“Uh, don’t have, uh, any further other than a male and female,” the dispatcher tells officers. “It’s all fourth-party information from the front desk at the leasing office.”

The news conference was held at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, and was attended by Fortson’s parents, siblings and other family.

Crump said the radio audio had been condensed to remove communications that were not relevant to the incident at the apartment complex where Fortson was shot six times. NBC News has not listened to an unedited version of the audio.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is handling the criminal investigation into the shooting, did not immediately return requests for comment about the family’s assertion that the deputy went to the wrong door. The sheriff’s office has not released an incident report or any 911 records. Sheriff Eric Aden has previously said the deputy had not entered the wrong apartment.

Fortson, 23, was shot May 3 in the doorway of his apartment in Fort Walton Beach by a deputy from the sheriff’s office who was responding to an apparent domestic dispute. Fortson’s family and their attorneys have insisted the deputy went to the wrong apartment because Fortson was home alone and on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend at the time of the incident. Crump said Thursday that the two were not raising their voices and had been making plans to see each other that weekend. Crump and Fortson’s family contend his killing was unjustified.

Crump showed two clips from the body camera video of the deputy being led around the apartment complex by a woman. At one point, the deputy asks her, “Which door?” She tells him, “I’m not sure.” The woman also tells the deputy that she heard a disturbance that included a slap two weeks ago and says, “I wasn’t sure where it came from.”

The woman later tells the deputy that he should go to apartment 1401, footage shows. It is unclear who the woman is, but Crump said Thursday that he believes she works in the leasing office of the complex.

When the deputy arrives at the apartment, he first knocks without identifying himself. He then knocks two more times, identifies himself as a member of the sheriff’s office and steps away from the door.

The video shows Fortson answer the door of his apartment with a gun in his right hand that is pointed downward and being shot by the deputy within seconds. After shooting, the deputy shouted for Fortson to drop the gun. Fortson legally owned the firearm, Crump said.

Crump said multiple times Thursday that he believed the deputy had “used excessive force” and had “executed” Fortson.

“As his mother said, they cannot stain his reputation,” Crump said. “But she feels, as long as they continue to say that they went to the right apartment, they’re staining his reputation. Because Roger did not have any domestic disturbance. Roger had no criminal history.”