AUSTIN, Texas —
Day five of testimony has wrapped up in the murder trial of a rideshare driver who says he shot an armed protester in self defense in Downtown Austin three years ago.
A lot happened in the courtroom on Monday, with attorneys showing more body camera footage of the interactions between Daniel Perry and officers after the shooting.
In the footage, Perry repeatedly mentioned he was "in fear for his life," and insisted he had never shot anyone before. Attorneys later showed footage of Perry alone in the interrogation room and the moment he found out Garrett Foster had died.
One officer who took the stand was Curtis Meyer, who was assigned to follow the protest. He said he'd had discussions with Foster about the way he was holding his AK-47 in the past.
A defense attorney asked Meyer if he'd had a "conversation" with Foster where Meyer had expressed concern about the way he carried his rifle. Meyer said "yes." Meyer also mentioned Foster "vehemently" disagreed with him.
The State also shared a social media post Perry shared in response to a post warning protesters about "going to Oklahoma" since they would be treated differently from big cities like New York, Seattle or Minneapolis. In the post, Perry said: "Send them to Texas, we will show them why we say don't mess with Texas."
On Monday, at least seven witnesses took the stand, including several officers, a crime analyst, Uber passenger, radio host and gun store employee. The defense says testimony should continue into Thursday.