Crime
Family of Airman Roger Fortson wants Florida sheriff’s deputy charged in fatal shooting
More than three months after a U.S. Air Force pilot was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff’s deputy, his family and their lawyer are demanding that prosecutors resolve whether to bring charges against the previous lawman.
At a news conference Friday, civil rights attorney Ben Crump questioned why the investigation was taking so long, noting that the shooting of PFC Roger Fortson was recorded on a sheriff’s deputy’s body camera.
He said that “if black Americans are delaying, delaying, delaying, they are trying to sweep it under the rug.”
“It’s on video, y’all,” Crump added. “It’s no secret what happened.”
Fortson, 23, was killed May 3 by Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The airman opened the door to his apartment with a gun pointed at the ground and was killed inside seconds, a body camera showed.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden released Duran, saying his life was not in danger and he mustn’t have shot.
An internal affairs investigation by the sheriff’s office found that Fortson “did not engage in any hostile, aggressive actions and, therefore, the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively justified.”
Crump said Friday his team was told authorities would make a charging decision on Aug. 23.
“Mark it on your calendars, brothers and sisters, mark it on your calendars,” Crump told supporters gathered for a news conference in the church sanctuary in Fort Walton Beach.
Crump said the Aug. 23 date got here from a senior official in the state attorney’s office. Neither State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden, who oversees the world, nor her staff responded to requests for comment Friday.
Fortson, who was from metropolitan Atlanta, was stationed at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle. At his funeral outside Atlanta in May, tons of of Air Force members in dress uniforms filed past his casket, which was draped in an American flag.
Now Crump and his family want the previous deputy to face justice.
“To the state’s attorney, you have everything you need,” Crump said. “The only question is, are you going to do it?”