US army sergeant found guilty of murdering BLM protester in Austin

A US army sergeant and ride-share service driver has been found guilty of the murder of a protester during a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020 in Austin, Texas.

After an eight-day trial and two days of verdict deliberations, a jury in Travis county, Texas, found 33-year-old Daniel Perry guilty of murdering air force veteran Garrett Foster, 28. Perry is white, as was Foster.

While the jury also found Perry not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the murder conviction left him facing a maximum of life imprisonment. He could be sentenced as soon as next week, according to the local television news outlet KXAN.

Perry was driving for Uber in downtown Austin where Foster was participating in a Black Lives Matter rally on the night of the shooting on 25 July 2020. According to police, Perry stopped and honked at the protesters as they walked through the streets before driving his car into the crowd, the Texas Tribune reported.