Posted on 05/10/2024 2:23:47 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
The family of a 23-year-old US Airman who was fatally shot by a Florida sheriff's deputy retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Roger Fortson was shot and killed inside his apartment on Friday when an Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy responding to a disturbance call "reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun."
"We demand accountability for those responsible for his death," Crump said in an email to Newsweek. "And we stand in solidarity with Roger's family and friends as they navigate this unimaginable loss."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
THIS ^
Wrong. Being directed to the wrong location is commonplace and meaningless. It falls 100% on the cop to make sure. And even if at the right location, it still was an unjustified shoot.
He heard no signs of a domestic argument. And even if there was a gun and it WAS the guy arguing. Him simply holding it down to his side is not justification for blazing away.
You are out of your league on this one.
Bottom line. Had he simply not opened the door, he would be alive. The cop didn’t have a legal reason to force entry.
“Anyone who spends as much time as I do watching The Crime Channel “
Well who can trump THAT kind of expertise?
Reference your post #75. for what it is worth, I agree.
That Sun article has very basic and important errors. No cop “burst through the door” and the cop did ID himself twice out of three knocks on the door. The Airman opened the door after the third knock by the cop and had a gun in his hand but did not lift it to point it at the cop that I could tell. Then at the end of the article, the reporter mentions the US Army for absolutely no reason and not the US Air Force. Clearly enough important mistakes to make the article a hit piece on the cop with no regard for the facts at all.
Oh, you have people on Free Republic, and they are legion, who believes everything the Police does is right. Example: Throwing flash bang grenade[s] in cribs with sleeping infants. In other words, the Police can do no wrong.
So the police can just shoot anyone if they are a bit disoriented and wondering who is pounding on their door? Because no one ever has pretended to be law enforcement and break into a house ever before, right?
I support the police as much as anyone, but this cop was way too quick on the draw.
It's meaningless to you but if I was a juror in *this* case (criminal or civil) it would mean *a lot*.
Just sayin'...
No, I didn’t necessarily mean to imply that...my problem was with the way the media portrayed the story. Instantly the media reached a decision in the case and refuses to acknowledge any other factors.
You may be right about “too quick on the draw”; but the media isn’t the one to decide. My primary gripe 90% of the time is with the way the media chooses to portray most of these cases.
You'd be surprised how many videos...*very* graphic videos...there are on youtube showing police responses to domestic calls (and other calls). Many of them feature a guy on meth...or with a schizophrenia diagnosis...who decides to point a gun at cops or rush at them with a knife/machete.
Also...I worked in a big city ER for years. I've seen more murder victims than I care to remember. That counts for something.
The videos wouldn’t -exactly- be a surprise to me.
And if I watch ER and House a lot, I guess I am almost an expert on medicine.
Bottom line, as a cop, you are not allowed to open fire on someone for simply holding a pistol down at their side. Even if you are actually dealing with the actual people and not a mistaken address. And wrong addresses are a daily fact of life in cop world.
He got scared and overreacted and forgot all his training. The county will pay out the nose, and he will be lucky to avoid prosecution.
I agree with that.
He did have a gun when he answered the door, pointed at the floor. After the cop shot him the cop told him to drop the gun, but he probably didn’t have it at that time. Also, while he is in his death spasms the cop tells him to “stop moving”.
It does nowdays. I'm surprised in an open carry state there aren't more kills like this. Possibly a different level of training to recognize a threat. I have answered my door early morning years ago with gun in hand, held about the same as pictured with no problem. I held it pretty well the same as this victim did with an openly visible empty trigger guard. Will probably relegate down to a training issue. No matter to the victim, no matter who they blame the poor man is dead.
It's tragic indeed that this kid died.It sounds as if he was a fine kid who was serving honorably in the Armed Forces.From his point of view the situation was surprising and puzzling...he didn't know what to do. e made the unfortunate decision to open the door with a gun.What he did wasn't wrong...it was just unwise.
From the cop's point of view...he was called to a domestic disturbance,a situation that years of history shows *often* involves a scumbag guy with a gun and a vow that he'll never go back to prison. e arrives at the scene...having been directed to the wrong apartment...and sees a young guy with a gun.
If this cop in Arizona a few years ago was found not guilty (a very well known case) then this cop is innocent of criminal acts.
Blame the dumb property manager for misinforming the cop.
Really bad shoot. My SOL is career LEO, detective/investigator, POST instructor; my daughter is a career prosecutor in major a metro area. We are all disturbed by the fact that the airman’s gun was clearly pointed down when LEO opened fire.
By all accounts an upstanding airman was killed for the crime of the police going to the wrong apartment.
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