JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville-based lawyer said someone holding a gun doesn’t mean that they are a threat after Black U.S. Air Force airman Roger Fortson was fatally shot six times in his apartment hallway.
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Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said the Okaloosa County deputy knocked on the wrong door because Fortson had been home alone and on FaceTime with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting.
“Roger Fortson was the best America had to offer. He was a patriot. He was a U.S. airman, special ops,” Crump said.
Okaloosa deputies disputed that claim and said the deputy responded to the right apartment.
News4JAX asked local defense attorney Belkis Plata if simply holding a gun while opening the door of your home is enough to justify law enforcement opening fire.
“Someone holding a gun doesn’t necessarily mean that they are posing a threat, even in criminal law unless you have the intent to use it. It is not the same thing, as when you actually pointed at someone say words that you’re going to use it or aim it in their direction,” Plata said.
She said in her opinion, the deputy reacted out of impulse and failed to de-escalate the situation or give Fortson time to comply with his commands.
It wasn’t until after Fortson was shot that the deputy is heard ordering the U.S. airman to drop the weapon.
Plata said she still believes law enforcement will find a defense for the Okaloosa deputy’s actions as to why this was a permissible act.
“I feel like that’s why other eyes outside of law enforcement have to look at situations like this. Because when the officers are the ones supervising their own and reviewing their own, they have their own personal biases, they’re police officers, they want to protect the police, when you don’t want to find fault. Another officer might have done the exact same thing. That doesn’t make it right. It’s not excusable, and there has to be a consequence,” Plata said.