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Dear John,
It’s hard to believe it’s come to this, but it has.
Premeditated murder based on racist political differences, defended, lauded, and excused by a Republican governor.
U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was convicted of first degree murder by a unanimous Texas jury for shooting and killing Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster. Perry drove his vehicle into a crowd of protestors during a rally in 2020 and then fired five shots through his driver side window when Foster approached the vehicle.
Perry considered himself an avowed racist, as court documents reveal he posted on social media: “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.” In another comment posted the same day, he compared BLM protesters to “a zoo full of monkeys...” -- he went on, but I’m not even going to reprint it here. You get the idea.
And this racist killing was premeditated. Perry tweeted a few weeks earlier he might have to “kill a few people on my way to work” because “they are rioting outside” and he “might go to Dallas to shoot looters.”
So did Texas Governor Greg Abbott speak up against racist partisan violence and call for the peaceful resolution of differences? Hardly.
Governor Abbott’s response: “I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” he tweeted. “I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.”
We must speak up for a return to sanity amongst our political leaders. The championing of politically-motivated killing promotes a casual acceptance of the horrific and sets a dangerous precedent for the future of our country. Join us in standing up by denouncing Governor Greg Abbott and GOP-sanctioned violence now.
The case bears an eerie similarity to the knee-jerk hero-making that greeted racist vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse was acquitted of the murder of two BLM protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin after a sensationalized trial in 2021 convinced the jury he acted in self defense, even though Rittenhouse instigated the encounter.
In both cases, the GOP rose to the occasion with praise and adulation for the anti-Black lives motivations of these killers. In fact, several Republicans in Congress offered Rittenhouse internships as a reward.
The Republican Party is now in tacit agreement with those who would kill fellow Americans for exercising their Constitutional right to peaceful protest.
But is this really a surprise, considering the GOP’s putative leader claimed after the murder of a peaceful protester in Charlottesville that there were “good people on both sides”?
Politics as practiced by the right wing in this country has become uncivil to the point of encouraging homicidal retribution. We must not take lightly these urgings toward civil unrest, which could become as devastating to the nation today as they were 160 years ago.
Even when a Texas jury agrees that an avowed racist engaged in premeditated murder, Governor Greg Abbott is unapologetically attempting to pardon violent extremism. It’s time to confront and condemn such a brazen abuse of pardoning authority. Sign the petition now.
Thank you for condemning the violence and helping to (re)build a culture of respect.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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