Soldier who fatally shot protester in downtown Austin indicted on murder charge

The soldier who fatally shot an armed protester last July in downtown Austin has been indicted on a murder charge.

Army Sgt. Daniel Perry also was indicted on charges of aggravated assault and deadly conduct stemming from the incident that left 28-year-old Garrett Foster dead, the Travis County district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

Perry turned himself in to authorities Thursday afternoon and was released on bond a short time later.

His attorney, Clint Broden, said he expected his client to be acquitted.

“It is important to note that the standard of proof required for an indictment is significantly less than the standard of proof required for a conviction,” Broden said in a written statement.

Austin police have said there are differing accounts of what happened the night of July 25.

Witnesses said that a car turned down Congress Avenue toward a group of protesters and started honking. Foster, who had been pushing his fiancée’s wheelchair and was carrying an AK-47-style rifle, approached the vehicle and the driver opened fire.

A second person — not Foster — returned fire as the car drove off, police said. The driver then called police to report that he’d shot someone.

Broden has said that Perry was working as an Uber driver and had just dropped off a passenger when he encountered the protesters, and that he initially mistook Foster as a law-enforcement officer.

He said that Perry fired his handgun in self-defense after Foster raised his rifle toward him.

But protesters said Foster did not point his firearm at Perry.

Legal experts have said that the case could hinge on what happened in the seconds just before the shooting.

Travis County District Attorney José Garza said at a news conference Thursday that the evidence presented to the grand jury included more than 150 exhibits and testimony from 22 witnesses, and that Perry chose not to testify.

“Our heart goes out to all those impacted by this immeasurable loss, in particular Mr. Foster’s family and friends,” Garza said. “We take our responsibility to present all of the evidence in any given case to a grand jury very seriously.”

Foster grew up in Plano and met his fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, when they were teenagers. The couple moved to Austin about three years ago, and they had taken part in demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism for several weeks last summer.

Foster’s father, Steve Foster, said Thursday that he was relieved about the indictment being handed up.

“Knowing that they found there to be enough evidence to move forward and prosecute the individual who shot my son is such good news to myself and my family,” he said in a written statement. “I hope and pray that a jury will find, as the grand jury did, the evidence to be enough for a conviction.”