'I can't breathe': Airman alone in apartment and on FaceTime shot 6 times by deputy who 'burst through the door' of wron

[Judi Lynn]

‘I can’t breathe’: Airman alone in apartment and on FaceTime shot 6 times by deputy who ‘burst through the door’ of wrong address, lawyer alleges

MATT NAHAM
May 9th, 2024, 11:46 am



U.S. Airman Roger Fortson (left) in a U.S. Air Force photo, (right) civil rights lawyer Ben Crump (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

A prominent civil rights lawyer representing the family of a 23-year-old U.S. senior airman killed at home in Fort Walton Beach last Friday afternoon is now alleging that Roger Fortson was by himself and on FaceTime when an Okaloosa County, Florida, deputy “burst through the door” of the wrong address and shot him six times.

Attorney Ben Crump announced several demands of law enforcement on Wednesday for transparency about the circumstances of the shooting, citing “serious questions that demand immediate answers” in light of an “alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment” during their response to a disturbance call.

Crump’s law firm said that the witness was a woman on a FaceTime call with Fortson “during the entire encounter.”

“Roger was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked, ‘Who is it?’ but didn’t get a response,” a press release said of the witness’s account. “A few minutes later, there was a very aggressive knock on the door, but Roger didn’t see anyone when he looked out the peephole.”

“Concerned, he did what any other law-abiding citizen would do and retrieved his legally-owned gun, but as he was walking back to the living room, police burst through the door,” the firm continued. “When they saw the gun, they shot Roger six times.”

The witness, Crump’s firm said, recalled hearing a dying Fortson say “I can’t breathe.”
“She has also said the police were in the wrong apartment as there was no disturbance in the apartment and he was alone,” the firm said.

More:
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/i-cant-breathe-airman-alone-in-apartment-and-on-facetime-shot-6-times-by-deputy-who-burst-through-the-door-of-wrong-address-lawyer-alleges/

[Passages]

1. Sickening.

[mahina]

2. Horrendous loss. What a terrible waste of a good young man.

[OMGWTF]

3. FTP

If I am ever in trouble I am calling the fire department.

[AverageOldGuy]

4. He is Black.

Black, had a gun. He's guilty. Give the cops a medal and a raise. Back to business as usual.


/s

[H2O Man]

5. Terrible!

Recommended.

[duhneece]

6. Nothing could have been important enough to warrant this

It’s been going on too long-when and how will we make life better for all of us?

[angrychair]

7. Cops are never your friend

They are not there to help you. They are a hammer looking for a nail.

[onecaliberal]

8. WHAT THE FUCK?!?

[red dog 1]

9. Again, cops go to wrong apartment and kill an innocent person, without even announcing themselves first.

If Forston had known they were police, he probably would have let them in, and they would have realized then that they had the wrong apartment.

(I hope that this time the killer-cop has to do jail time)

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

10. His commander needs to order some arrests n/t

[aocommunalpunch]

11. Cops are either ostracized or corrupt.

Fuck cops. ACAB.

[Kid Berwyn]

12. He asked, 'Who is it?' but didn't get a response.

A Black man isn’t safe even in his own home.