Crime
An attorney says the Florida officers who fatally shot a black American airman entered the wrong apartment
MIAMI (AP) – Deputies responding to a call about a disturbance at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong apartment and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone once they saw him armed with a gun, a lawyer for the man’s family said Wednesday.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who worked in the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was in his off-base apartment at Fort Walton Beach when the May 3 shooting occurred.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement that Fortson spoke on Facetime with the woman during the meeting.
According to Crump, the woman, whom Crump didn’t discover, said Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock on the door. He asked who was there, but received no answer. Just a few minutes later, Fortson heard a louder knock, but when he looked through the peephole, he saw nobody, Crump said, citing the woman’s account.
The woman stated that Fortson was concerned and went to retrieve the gun, which Crump said was her legal property.
Crump’s testimony states that as Fortson was returning to his lounge, deputies burst through the door and saw that Fortson was armed and shot him six times. The woman said Fortson was on the ground saying, “I can’t breathe” after he was shot, Crump said.
Authorities said Fortson died at the hospital. The deputy involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave pending the consequence of the investigation.
The woman stated that Fortson didn’t interfere with the Facetime call and believes deputies should have confused the apartment, Crump’s statement said.
“The circumstances of Roger’s death raise serious questions that require an immediate response from authorities, especially given disturbing witness testimony that police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said.
“We call for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body camera footage to the family,” Crump said. “His family and the public deserve to know what happened in the moments leading up to this tragedy.”
Crump is a nationally known attorney based in Tallahassee, Florida. He has been involved in quite a few high-profile cases involving law enforcement shootings of Black people, including those of Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Tire Nichols and George Floyd.
Crump and Fortson’s family plans to talk at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach on Thursday morning.
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The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately reply to an email and voicemail from The Associated Press in search of comment on Crump’s claims. But on Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Eric Aden posted a statement on Facebook expressing sadness over the shooting.
“At this time, we humbly ask our community for patience as we work to understand the facts that led to this tragic event,” Aden said.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement last week that a sheriff’s deputy responding to a disturbance call at an apartment complex responded in self-defense after encountering an armed man. The office didn’t provide details about what disturbances deputies were responding to or who called them.
The sheriff’s office also declined to right away discover the responding deputies or their race. Authorities said earlier this week that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local state’s attorney’s office would investigate the case.
FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency was highly unlikely to offer any further comments until the investigation was accomplished.
Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special mission airman, where considered one of his roles as a crew member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm guns during a mission.
Fortson’s death bears striking similarities to the deaths of other Black people killed lately by police of their homes, in circumstances through which officers responded to the wrong address or responded to a service call with reckless use of deadly force.
In 2018, a white former Dallas police officer proposed fatally shooting Botham Jean, an unarmed black man, after mistaking his apartment for her own. Former officer Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder the following 12 months and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In 2019, a white former Fort Worth, Texas, officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through the rear window of her home after responding to a non-emergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, a former officer, was found guilty of manslaughter in 2022 and sentenced to almost 12 years in prison.
Crump represented the families in each cases as a part of his ongoing efforts to force accountability for police killings of black people.
“What I’m trying to do as much as I can, even sometimes on my own, is to increase the value of Black lives,” Crump told The Associated Press in 2021 after a former Minneapolis officer was convicted of George Floyd’s murder.
Fort Walton Beach is positioned between Panama City Beach and Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.
Crime
Family of Texas Teen, accused of a deadly stab of another teenager on the track, collected over $ 150,000 via the online fundraiser
The collection of money for a teenager accused of a deadly stabbing of another teenager during a meeting at the Texas track last week has almost USD 200,000.
Launched by the family of Carmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old from Texas, who’s accused of stabbing Austin Metcalf, also 17, during an intensive meeting between them, Dajndo Fundraiser reached USD 160,000 from Monday morning.
According to Anthony’s lawyer, Deric Walpole, his client demands self -defense on this matter. Talking with NBC Dallas-Fort Worth On Friday, other than the prison, wherein Anthony was detained, Walpole said: “I know that my client said it was a self -defense. I have no reason not to believe it, but I have to develop facts, talk to people and find out what is happening before I made some statements about what I think.”
He added: “I have no reason to think that it was not a self -defense at the moment.”
On Wednesday, April 2, around 10 am local time, it’s claimed that Anthony stabbed Metcalf after Metcalf asked to depart a specific area during the rain delay at a sports event at the Kuykeyndall stadium in Frisco, in accordance with the NBC Dalls-Fort value. Anthony, a competitor in a competitive team, apparently sat under the tent of the Metcalf team to avoid rainfall when Metcalf asked him to depart. When Anthony didn’t follow Metcalf in order that he wouldn’t touch him, allegedly Metcalf caught Anthony’s arm, leaning Anthony, using a knife from a backpack to stab Metcalf in his chest from escaping.
Metcalf suffered a stinging wound in his heart and was recognized as deceased at the scene of the incident, despite the attempts to save lots of his twin brother.
“I put my hand on (his chest), tried to stop (bleeding), grabbed his head and looked into his eyes. I just saw his soul. And this also took my soul,” said Twin Hunter Metcalfa Fox News.
Anthony was arrested and accused of killing the first degree, and is currently being detained in the Collin County prison for a bond of USD 1,000,000, which his lawyer is trying to cut back. He hopes to interrogate bonds this week.
Teenager Apparently he said the police“It is not alleged, I did it” that he was lively in self -defense and asked if Metcalf can be tremendous. Anthony’s father said The New York Post That his son was “provoked”.
“He was not an aggressor. He was not the one who started him,” said Andrew Anthony, adding: “Everyone has already adopted their assumptions about my son, but he is not what they make him.”
He explained that his son was a “good child” who works two works and maintains 3.7 GPs.
“I feel sorry for other parents and family, and words cannot explain how both (families) affected this tragedy,” he noted.
The online collection of money causes “false” narratives circulating after the consequence.
“The widespread narrative is false, unfair and harmful. As a family of faith, we are deeply grateful for all your support in this difficult period. Your prayers and help mean more for us than ever,” we read a fundraiser.
Collecting money on Gofundme In the case of family costs and Metcalf’s funeral, they brought 95% of their goal.
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Richmond, Virginia – June 12: photo of George Floyd expected to the statue of confederate general Robert Lee on June 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Last week, the governor of Virginia Ralph Northam ordered the removal of Lee’s general statue as soon as possible, but court proceedings temporarily stopped these plans. Protests proceed in cities across the country after the death of George Floyd, who died in police detention in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo eze amos/getty images)
Giving police departments equipment to military class does not reduce crime or increase safety based on two independent research. Studies appear in the course of the ongoing conversation concerning the importance of “rejecting the police” as a method.
IN “Police demilitarization and brutal crime“, Kenneth Lwande, a professor on the University of Michigan, questioned the claim that the military weapon exchange program reduced the crime rate, assaulting police officers and the variety of complaints towards police officers.
Finding problems in previously published data Lwande focused on the information available after ordering the Obama administration from 2015, required to demlate local police agencies. Answering public indignation after exposing the militarized police in Ferguson, Obama’s administration Forbade some Sales of military equipment to the police as a part of the controversial program 1033. Trump’s administration reversed this policy in 2017.
IN interview In the case of ABC, Lwande explained that earlier research found that the transfer of military equipment to police plots served as deterrent. But from his evaluation, evidence does not confirm such conclusions. “It’s just not an accurate record,” said Lwande. “[Prior studies] They clearly suggested that by transferring military police equipment, he would stop criminals from committing crimes. “
Published in the character of human behavior, London magazine, research emphasizes the reaper of Trump’s administration on potentially “unbelievable” data when making decisions about withdrawing restrictions from Obama’s time. After assessing previous research, Lipowde found that publicly published data utilized in previous studies were filled with inaccuracies. Earlier evaluation did not control the equipment that was transferred between agencies, unused or otherwise inoperable. In addition, Lwande did not find any evidence that the demilitarizing law enforcement authorities led to an increase in crime.
Program 1033, managed by the Defense Logistics Agency, is one in every of several ways through which law enforcement authorities acquire military assessment equipment. Established in 1997 as a part of the Act on authorization for national defense, is estimated Program 1033 has transferred over $ 7 billion in military equipment into $ 8,000 across the country. The program was originally created for the forces of “counteracting terrorism”, but later prolonged to cover all of the activities of law enforcement agencies.
Covering with the national uprisings this summer, several members of the Chamber introduced laws to eliminate the 1033 program in June. The Black Lives movement also published Act Breathe Act, a comprehensive legislative proposal, including financing specific politicians and the abolition of the police. Section I of the proposed respiratory act requires the opening of the 1033 program in its entirety.
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