The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s office has been under national scrutiny for what some see as a problematic use of force.
The latest incident took place on May 3rd, involving Senior Airman Roger Fortson and a sheriff deputy, who has yet to be identified. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump likens Fortson’s death to the killings of Breonna Taylor and Travon Martin.
“We’ve seen it far too many times when they kill people, especially Black people unjustifiably,” said Crump. “They have the investigation go on for months or years. We’re not going to let them sweep Roger Fortson under the rug.”
Body cam footage of the incident shows the Okaloosa deputy responding to Fortson’s apartment after receiving a call about a disturbance between a man verbally abusing a woman.
Fortson, however, was alone.
The footage released by the sheriff’s department shows Fortson opening the door, after the deputy knocked and introduced himself multiple times.
It’s not clear whether Fortson heard the knocking. The 23-year-old was seen holding a gun with it pointing downwards, and before giving commands to drop it, the deputy opened fire.
The deputy then calls for medical assistance.
“De-escalation does not always work.”
Brent Loeffler is the training director for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association. He has not seen the footage but says from his 20-year experience of training deputies on proper use of force, that not every police-involved shooting is the same.
He says in most cases, it boils down to the safety of the officer and others nearby.
“A lot of times you got individuals outside playing, doing yard work, or whatever,” Loeffler explained in an interview with WFSU. “Depending on the situation, those individuals could be placed at just a greater risk of being shot or injured.”
Not everyone’s buying the deputy’s actions.
Noted Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump is representing Fortson’s family. He says the deputy shot prematurely.
Crump argues the fact Fortson had his gun pointing downward toward the floor, while in his own apartment, negates the deputy’s claim of self-defense.
“You put out this narrative demonizing his name, as if he [Fortson] did something wrong,” he said.
Sabu Williams, with the Okaloosa NAACP, is calling for the sheriff’s office to release certain legal documents. He’s interested in knowing how they’ve handled deputy shootings in the past.
“When we look at complaints, discipline actions, termination records, and lawsuits that have been filed; we look at it from a different view,” said Williams. “We may see some patterns, practices, or behaviors.”
Last November, the same department was in the hotseat after a deputy, by the name of Jesse Hernandez, mistook the sound of an acorn falling onto his patrol vehicle for gunshots, and opened fire on the vehicle while Marquis Jackson, a Black man, was in the backseat handcuffed.
“He began yelling “shots fired” multiple times, falling to the ground and rolling,” the sheriff’s report said. “He fired into the patrol car.”
The Okaloosa deputy and his partner fired 22 rounds at the vehicle. Hernandez resigned on Dec. 4, while under investigation. As for Jackson, he and his lawyers sued the sheriff’s office for “unjustifiable use of deadly force.”
“Imagine being shot at a tremendous amount of times while handcuffed in the backseat of a cop car, by the ones we call to protect our community,” Jackson said during a press conference.
With Jackson’s case pending and the family of Roger Fortson still awaiting answers from state investigators, several human rights groups have asked the state to do more to help police better protect Floridians.
Okaloosa’s NAACP wants agencies to host community engagement sessions and focus more on de-escalation tactics.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, only sworn law enforcement officers must complete 40 hours of use of force, human diversity, and racial profiling training every four years. NAACP’s Sabu Williams says that needs to change.
“I think the laws need to change in order to protect people,” he said. “There should be no reason why this young airman was killed. He did nothing wrong.”
