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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: With Trump in, we can finally exhale. But the fact of the matter is our nation is broke and that debt is a house of cards that can't quickly be dismantled.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right, John. And today, we're going to talk about a story that's been making headlines. A former Army Sergeant, Daniel Perry, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an armed BLM protester during the summer of 2020. But after spending more than a year behind bars, Perry was granted a full pardon by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in May of this year.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. And Perry is speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Daily Wire, accusing the district attorney who convicted him of political targeting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right, John. And joining us now is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo, who conducted an exclusive interview with Daniel Perry.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Amanda, can you recap the case for listeners who might not be familiar?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Sure. Perry, who was then 30 years old, was stationed outside of Austin, Texas in 2020, and he was working as an Uber driver for some extra cash. On July 25th, after he dropped off a passenger, he found himself in the midst of a Black Lives Matter protest where at least two protesters were armed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And can you tell us what happened next?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yes. Perry told me that he had no intention of ending up near the protest. And when he realized he was by a crowd of people, he stopped his vehicle. A guy jumped in front of my vehicle, so I couldn't drive any further. And somebody threw a water bottle at my windshield. That's when I honked my horn.
--:-- John Bickley: And what happened next?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: They start rocking and shaking my car and banging on the fist and kicking it. And the guy approached me with an AK-47 and he motioned me to roll my windows down. And at this point in time, I'm kind of in a state of shock and I complied with him. I don't know why I complied with him, But I complied, rolled my windows down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what did the protester say to you?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He said something that was completely muffled. I had no idea what he was saying. And then he takes two steps back and he points, starts raising the barrel of his AK-47 at me. And my body reacted on its own. I grabbed my revolver and I shot him.
--:-- John Bickley: And what happened after that?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Perry said he sped away to try to get to safety and he heard gunshots going off behind him. There was a second shooter in the crowd, but Perry said he thought he had missed Foster and Foster was now trying to kill him. The second shooter left three bullet holes in Perry's vehicle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And can you tell us about the trial?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yes. Perry was later charged with murder by a liberal George Soros-backed DA named Jose Garza. Perry was convicted of murder in April of 2023. And a year after that in May of 2024 Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a full pardon to Perry and he called out Garza for what he said were politically motivated actions.
--:-- John Bickley: And what did Perry tell you about the experience of being in prison?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He told me that he felt like the justice system was going to work in his favor because he believed he did nothing wrong. But at the back of his mind, he believed that the DA was going to tip the scales and pick him at a slight disadvantage.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the pardon? How did he feel about that?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He told me that he felt like God had answered his prayers. He said that he had been praying to God and that he had felt blessed.
--:-- John Bickley: And what about the district attorney, Jose Garza? What did Perry tell you about him?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Perry told me that Garza and the DA's office have taken actions against him that he feels are both politically motivated and personal. In one instance, Perry believes Garza's office was behind the push to get him a less than honorable discharge from the military.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the private messages on Perry's phone? Can you tell us about those?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yes. Court documents were also unsealed showing private messages on Perry's phone after Governor Abbott signaled that he was looking to issue a pardon. At the time, Perry's defense called that move a political decision by the district attorney. Some of the private messages discussed guns and shooting protesters if they were to attack Perry and other messages were racial in nature and by Perry's own description, offensive.
--:-- John Bickley: And what did Perry tell you about those messages?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He told me that the messages were mostly between himself and his military buddies, some of whom are Black, and they were taken out of context. He also believes that releasing those messages was an act of retaliation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And finally, what does Perry hope to achieve by speaking out about this case?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He told me that he's only speaking to the Daily Wire because he thinks Garza is unjustly prosecuting others for political reasons. He's worried that if nobody speaks up against the injustice that he's bringing, nobody's going to hear his story and more officers and more lawful abiding citizens will face his wrath.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Amanda, thank you so much for sitting down with Perry and bringing us this report.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, of course. There's been a lot about the other side. It's good to hear from Perry himself.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo interviewing Daniel Perry. And this has been a Sunday edition of Morning Wire.
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