Members of the Austin Police Department drafted a letter of support for bigoted killer Daniel Perry but ultimately decided not to send it, according to a disturbing news report on Tuesday.
After facing pressure from right-wing activists such as Tucker Carlson, Texas Gov. Abbott pardoned Perry last week, effectively overturning his murder conviction last year for killing an antiracist protester in 2020.
As the Austin American-Statesman reported:
Days before Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry for killing a Black Lives Matter protester, the Austin Police Department drafted a two-page letter to state officials advocating that Perry be freed. The document, on departmental letterhead, echoes the belief of the lead investigator in the case that the prosecution of Perry in the shooting death of Garrett Foster was based on “conjecture,” “innuendo” and a “character assassination” of Perry, who wrote racist and threatening social media posts. The draft, obtained by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV on Tuesday, bears the signatory of interim police chief Robin Henderson.
Henderson told the Statesman that the drafted letter was not sent after “discussions with city leadership.”
It’s hard to know what exactly what police officials deemed “innuendo” or “character assassination,” but that claim may have something to do with text messages sent from Perry’s phone that talked about wanting to “shoot looters,” fantasized about hitting protesters with a car and shared memes about punishing a daughter who had a crush on a “little Negro boy.” Much of that information was not presented to jurors, according to The Texas Tribune, because of rules about denigrating the character of a defendant.
Nonetheless, the APD’s draft letter said Perry had engaged in “justified homicide” and claimed that “a full pardon and restoration of his firearm rights should be granted.” Even though the letter wasn’t sent, just the drafting of it shows hostility to the rule of law in this case — and perhaps more disturbingly, opposition to the jurors chosen to uphold it. Abbott’s pardon announcement cited Texas’ strong “stand your ground” laws as rationale. But there’s no reason to think the jury didn’t weigh that law when they found Perry guilty of murder.
No wonder Texas has become a hotbed for extremism. Officials from police to the governor have sent a message that if your views align with theirs, or if they happen to see you as a sympathetic figure, your violent bigotry can proceed virtually unchecked.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.