Army sergeant guilty in fatal Texas shooting of protester

AUSTIN, Texas — A U.S. Military sergeant was convicted of homicide for fatally capturing an armed protester in 2020 throughout nationwide protests in opposition to police violence and racial injustice, a Texas jury dominated Friday.

Sgt. Daniel Perry was working for a ride-sharing firm in July 2020 when he turned onto a road and into a big crowd of demonstrators in downtown Austin. In video that was streamed stay on Fb, a automotive will be heard honking earlier than a number of photographs ring out and protesters start screaming and scattering.

The 28-year-old protester, Garrett Foster, was taken to the hospital the place he was later pronounced lifeless.

Perry, who faces life in jail, now awaits sentencing.

“We’re proud of the decision. We’re very sorry for his household as nicely. There’s no winners on this,” Stephen Foster, the sufferer’s father, advised reporters Friday.

The jury deliberated for 2 days. Throughout closing arguments, Perry’s attorneys mentioned he had no alternative however to shoot Foster as he approached Perry’s automotive with an AK-47 rifle, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Prosecutors mentioned Perry may have pushed away earlier than firing his revolver.

Witnesses testified that Foster by no means raised his rifle at Perry, in response to the newspaper. Perry, who didn’t testify, advised police that Foster did.

Within the instant aftermath of the capturing, then-Police Chief Brian Manley mentioned officers heard “two separate volleys of gunfire.” Officers made their option to the group, the place they discovered Foster with a number of gunshot wounds.

Manley mentioned the driving force, who was not named on the time, referred to as 911 and reported the capturing, and that the second spherical of photographs was fired by protesters who witnessed the capturing.

Perry was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Austin. The trial comes after makes an attempt from Perry’s crew to throw out the case over the previous 12 months.

When Foster was killed, demonstrators in Austin and past had been marching within the streets for weeks following the police killing of George Floyd. Floyd died Might 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee in opposition to the Black man’s neck for greater than 9 minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, repeatedly mentioned he couldn’t breathe.

Floyd’s killing was recorded on video by a bystander and sparked worldwide protests as a part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.