Army Sgt. Daniel Perry convicted of killing BLM protester Garrett Foster at Texas rally

US Army Sgt. Daniel Perry was convicted Friday of killing a protester during a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally in Texas.

Perry, 33, who served a tour in Afghanistan, claimed he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot 28-year-old Garrett Foster as he marched in an Austin demonstration.

After two days of deliberation, the jury ruled he was responsible for the killing.

Perry buried his head into the chest of one of his lawyers and sobbed loudly after the verdict was read, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

“We’re happy with the verdict. We’re very sorry for his family as well. There’s no winners in this,” Stephen Foster, the victim’s father, said.

The former soldier — who was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles north of Austin — had plowed into the July 25, 2020 protest while he was on the clock for a ride-sharing company, though no clients were in the car at the time.

Several protesters started beating on his car, prompting Perry to whip out his handgun and shoot Foster, who was wearing a neoprene vest under his T-shirt and carrying an AK-47, a club and a knife.

Perry’s lawyers claimed Foster had motioned for Perry to lower his window — which he obliged because he believed he was a law enforcement officer — before pointing the gun at the sergeant, the defense stated.

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Perry claimed he fired at Foster three times in self-defense, killing him.

Foster’s family and some eyewitnesses disputed Perry’s claims.

Witnesses testified that Foster had been pushing his black, quadruple-amputee fiancée’s wheelchair and had never raised his assault rifle when Perry indiscriminately killed him.

Prosecutors revealed Perry posted on social media that he felt strongly against protesters, and even said that people could get away with shooting them in Texas. 

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In a video taken at the protest, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters begin screaming and scattering.

The city’s police chief had said at the time that “two separate volleys of gunfire” could be heard, though the second round was fired by protesters who had witnessed the shooting — not Foster, who was lying on the ground suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

Perry now awaits sentencing. He was also found not guilty of an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to driving in front of another protester. 

With Post wires