Defend yourself against violent BLM protesters and face an endless salvo of character assassination, not to mention potential prison time.  That was the message being sent by far-left activists and the establishment media from 2020 to 2023, specifically in their efforts to destroy the image of Kyle Rittenhouse and veteran Army Sergeant Daniel Perry. 

In both cases the men involved were conservative and fired on protesters who were in the process of threatening their lives.  The political left wanted Rittenhouse badly but didn’t get him in court; they needed to make an example and they thought they had the opportunity with Perry.  

Daniel Perry made the mistake of stumbling into a Black Lives Matter protest In Austin, Texas while driving an Uber on July 25, 2020.  Activists claimed that Perry ran a red light and tried to “ram the crowd.”  This was later proven to be false when footage was released showing Perry simply stuck in the crowd waiting for them to move.  He apparently honked his horn and this is what led to the eventual altercation with Garret Foster, one of the protesters armed with an AK47.  As the crowd angrily surrounded and attacked Perry’s car, shots rang out.

A mob surrounding and attacking a person’s car is already grounds for self defense.  Perry alleged that Garret Foster approached his vehicle yelling at him to lower his window and then raised the muzzle of his rifle as if getting ready to fire.  Perry, also armed, shot the man believing his life was in danger.  Images show Foster in a mask with his rifle in a tactical “low ready” position standing in the way of Perry’s vehicle, but witnesses (all BLM protesters) claim he did not directly aim the weapon at Perry. 

Perry’s texting history showed discussions with friends indicating that if he was confronted by rioters while working he might have to shoot them.  These texts were presented to the jury as “premeditation.”  Perry, like Rittenhouse, was labeled a “racist” from the start even though he shot another white man (to this day there are still leftists who believe Rittenhouse and Perry shot black protesters).  The veteran was put through the ringer and painted as a monster “looking for a reason” to kill protesters (the same strategy the prosecution used with Rittenhouse).  

For Rittenhouse the strategy failed, but Perry’s trial was in Austin, a famously progressive enclave in the middle of Texas.  Daniel Perry’s murder conviction despite extenuating circumstances was the left’s answer to the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.  They cheered his 25 year prison sentence as a political and ideological victory, arguing that this would teach conservatives a lesson.

Governor Greg Abbott, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, has now addressed the Perry case and decided a pardon is necessary after the Texas Board of Pardons issued a unanimous recommendation.  The full text of the pardon can be read here.  Daniel Perry was released from prison within an hour of the message from Abbott.  The corporate media is outraged, producing a flurry of articles calling the move a “political stunt.”

But here’s the bottom line:  Perry was working as an Uber driver, meaning he was doing his job at the time which requires him to make rounds throughout the city of Austin.  Protesters deliberately blocked the roads (which is illegal), then surrounded and attacked Perry’s vehicle for doing nothing more than honking his horn at them.  We have seen this same scenario thousands of times across the US from far-left mobs and they seem to believe this behavior is protected by free speech laws; it’s not. 

During the trial a lot of attention was focused on whether or not Garret Foster raised the muzzle of his rifle enough to present a threat, but Perry was already under threat by an angry crowd blocking the road and thrashing his car.  At the very least, Perry’s sentencing should have taken the frightening nature of the situation into account.  But again, he was being made into an example.  Greg Abbott has been accused of playing politics, but the conviction of Daniel Perry was political from the very beginning.