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Let there be no doubt: Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, is a proud supporter of Daniel Perry, the Army sergeant convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
The fact Perry killed someone in opposition to conservative ideals has made him into a celebrity of sorts on the right, including many in far-right media who have called for Abbott to pardon Perry. And Abbott has wasted no time obliging.
“I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” Abbott said in a statement on Twitter, referring to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Abbott claims a jury and a “progressive” district attorney “nullified” Texas’ self-defense laws by convicting Perry. But a court filing released Thursday give us a clearer window into who Daniel Perry is: a racist, blood-thirsty killer who fantasized about carrying out violence against protesters and, I should note, seemed interested in connecting with young girls.
Apparently, this is just the kind of man Abbott wants released.
The Houston Chronicle was first to report on the court filing, which includes text messages and images from Perry’s phone. The filing shows that a review of Perry’s phone suggests he had searched online for protests taking place in various Texas cities, including Austin and Dallas, and also searched for protesters who had been shot.
Here’s just a sampling of what was found on Perry’s phone, according to the court document:
- A message sent by Perry through Facebook to another user on May 30, 2020: “I am imagining standing on a roof top with a megaphone and a maga hat saying looters will be shot leave the area immediately and then count down to zero or when they start breaking down the front door just opening up like it is open season.”
- A text sent from Perry’s phone in which the sender says, “To bad we can’t get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.”
- An image with the phrase “IT’S OKAY TO BE WHITE”
- A text sent from Perry’s phone in which the sender claims to have “killed a homeless man by accident”
- A meme about running people over
- Evidence that Perry’s phone was used more than once to search online for “good chats to meet young girls”
There’s plenty more in the 76-page document, if you’re so inclined.
Like other Republicans, Greg Abbott is on a crusade against “groomers” (a term that the right usually reserves for innocent LGBTQ people) but has yet to rescind his call for Perry to be pardoned. So let’s take him at his word that he wants a racist murderer with an apparent interest in meeting “young girls” to be excused from punishment, over the will of a jury.
It’s just the latest example of Republicans supporting people found or alleged to have engaged in violence against their perceived political enemies.