The attorney and family of the black airman fatally shot by Florida deputies say he was a patriot

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The family of a Black US Air Force airman fatally shot by officers who broke into his home in the Florida Panhandle said Thursday that they wanted to clear his name and that authorities had spread a false narrative that the officers had acted in self-defense.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson He didn’t know that sheriff’s deputies were breaking into his home – “his castle” – and that he grabbed his “legally registered firearm” to protect himself, civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters. Fortson’s family planned to view body camera video later in the day.

Fortson’s mother, Chantemekki Fortson, entered the news conference while Crump held a framed portrait of her son in his dress uniform. She broke down in tears as Crump spoke about her son’s death at his Fort Walton Beach home.

“My baby was shot,” she said.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office planned to hold a news conference later Thursday afternoon. It declined to name the responding lawmakers or their races. Officials said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local prosecutor’s office were investigating the shooting.

Crump said officers responding to a disturbance call entered the wrong unit and fatally shot Fortson when they saw he had a gun. He said Fortson grabbed his gun because he heard someone outside his apartment, got no answer when he asked who was there and discovered the peephole on his door was blocked.

“For some reason they thought he was a bad guy, but he was a good guy. He was a great guy. He was an extraordinary guy,” Crump said. “They took away a patriot from us.”

Crump, a prominent civil rights attorney, called the shooting “an unjustified killing” and said the sheriff’s office should own up to it instead of claiming the officers acted in self-defense.

“He was just in his apartment, minding his business,” Crump said. “They could have made sure they were in the right apartment. They had a duty to make sure they were in the right apartment before breaking down the door.”

The sheriff’s office did not respond to an email or voicemail from The Associated Press seeking comment about Crump’s account. In a statement last week, the office said an officer responding to a call about a disturbance occurring at the apartment complex responded in self-defense after encountering an armed man. The office did not say what type of disturbance officers were responding to or who called them.

AP correspondent Jennifer King reports on developments in the police shooting of a Black Air Force special purpose pilot.

Crump said Fortson, originally from Atlanta, was shot six times and died at a hospital. The officer who shot him was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Fortson had the constitutional right to possess the firearm and to defend himself against unreasonable searches by police, Crump said. He led family members and other attorneys in a chant: “Make Roger’s name clear.”

“Every law-abiding citizen who feels they have a Fourth Amendment and Second Amendment right should be concerned about this,” Crump said.

Crump said Fortson had always wanted to join the U.S. Air Force and joined after graduating from high school. He was stationed in the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field. As a special missions airman, one of his duties was to load the gunship’s guns during missions.

“He was living his dream. “He wanted to make it easier for his mother and siblings so they could have a better chance at the American dream,” Crump said.

Fortson was speaking on FaceTime with his girlfriend, who had not yet been identified, when officers burst into his apartment on May 3, Crump added.

Without her, his family wouldn’t have known what happened, he said. The friend notified his mother, who drove to Fort Walton Beach to find out her son was dead.

At the hospital, officers approached Chantemekki Fortson and she told them, “You killed my baby.” Please just take me to my baby. “I just want to see my child,” she said at the press conference.

“They had taken my gift,” she said. “My heart is bleeding and they wanted to talk to me. They told me the investigation is still ongoing,” she said.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency was unlikely to comment further until the investigation was complete.

Crump, based in Tallahassee, Florida, has been involved in several high-profile cases of police shootings involving black people, including the cases of Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Tire Nichols, George Floyd And Breonna Taylorwho was also killed in her home during a police raid on her ex-boyfriend in 2020.

Fortson’s death bears striking similarities to other black people killed by police in their homes in recent years, in circumstances where officers responded to the wrong address or responded to calls for service with wanton use of deadly force.

In 2018, a white former Dallas police officer fatally shot unarmed Botham Jean after mistaking his apartment for her own. Amber Guyger, the former civil servant, was sentenced for murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 2019, a white former officer from Fort Worth, Texas, fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a 911 call informing him that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, the former officer, was sentenced He was sentenced to almost twelve years in prison for negligent homicide.

Crump represented families in both cases as part of his efforts to force accountability for police killings of Black people.

In November 2023, an Okaloosa County sheriff The officer mistook the sound of an acorn hitting his patrol vehicle for a gunshot and shot several times at the SUV, which had a handcuffed black man sitting in the back seat. Sheriff’s officials said the man questioned about stealing his girlfriend’s car was not injured. He was taken into custody but released without charge. The officer who initiated the shooting resigned.