Texas AG Ken Paxton slams prosecutor José Garza after jury convicts Daniel Perry

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton condemned “Soros-backed” local prosecutor José Garza as more interested in pushing a “radical agenda” than seeking justice following the jury conviction of Army Sgt. Daniel Perry for killing a Black Lives Matter protester.

Paxton called out Garza, the Travis County district attorney, as he backed Perry’s claim that the Fort Hood soldier was merely defending himself when he repeatedly fired his handgun on 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who marched armed with an AK-47 in a July 25, 2020 demonstration in Austin.

“Self-defense is a God-given right, not a crime,” Paxton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, the Soros-backed DA in Travis County cares more about the radical agenda of dangerous Antifa and BLM mobs than justice.”

“This week has shown us how rogue prosecutors have weaponized the judicial system,” he added. “They must be stopped!”

The George Soros-backed Democratic DA, who touted his team for finding justice for Foster’s family, fired back against Paxton, saying the Texas attorney general should be worried about his own legal troubles instead.

“The Texas Attorney General is currently under felony indictment and under a federal criminal investigation,” Garza said in a statement. “He should focus on his own legal troubles instead of attempting to interfere with the work of a Travis County jury.”

Paxton’s criticism came as Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also blamed Perry’s conviction on Garza and vowed to pardon Perry and expedite the decision.

Perry, 35, who was stationed at Fort Hood about 70 miles north of Austin, had run into the BLM rally during his shift as a rideshare driver and became enraged when protesters started beating his car.

Perry’s lawyers argued Foster raised his gun first, prompting Perry to fire in self-defense before he fled the scene and called 911.

Witnesses, however, testified that Foster had never raised the weapon and had been pushing his quadruple-amputee fiancée’s wheelchair when he was killed. 

During the trial, Garza and prosecutors also presented social media posts where Perry was critical of the “anti-police” sentiments being stoked across the nation after the murder of George Floyd. Some of Perry’s posts included claims that people could get away with shooting demonstrators in Texas.

Perry faces life in prison at sentencing. Following the jury’s decision on Friday, Abbott said he would work to quickly pardon the army sergeant and reign in Garza and other supposed “rogue District Attorneys.”

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said in a statement. “I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk”