In court, prosecutors brought up Facebook messages that Perry sent prior to Foster’s killing.
In one message, Perry wrote: “No protesters go near me or my car” and “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters,” the Austin television news outlet KTBC
reported.
Another message that Perry sent on 31 May 2020
said: “I might have to kill a few people on my way to work they are rioting outside my apartment complex.” A few days later, Perry commented on a Facebook post of a video titled “Protesters Looters Get Shot San Antonio Texas”, writing, “glad someone finally did something”.
During the trial, Austin police detective William Bursley testified about evidence found on Perry’s cell phone. Part of the evidence
included online searches for “protest tonight”, “protesters in Seattle gets shot”, “riot shootouts” and “protests in Dallas live”.
“This is an age-old story about a man who couldn’t keep his anger under control,” said prosecutor Guillermo Gonzalez, according to the
Austin American-Statesman. “It’s not about police, and it’s not about protest marchers.
“Garrett Foster had every right to go up to him and see what the heck was going on and he had every right to do it with a deadly weapon.”