Roger Fortson killed by police entering wrong apartment
Source: JohnAlexandr / Getty
Florida is a trash-a** state for hundreds of years of reasons and today we can add another heartbreaking one to top of the list.
According to APNews, an inept group of sheriff’s deputies in Miami, Florida were responding to a call about a disturbance at an apartment complex on May 3, 2024. When they arrived on the scene, they were so jacked up on adrenaline and ready to use force than they kicked in the wrong door and shot 23-year-old Black U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson to death with six rounds.
The report states that Fortson was alone in his home talking to a woman on FaceTime when he heard the disturbance that deputies were responding to. The woman says Fortson heard a knock at his door but got no response when he asked who it was. Upon hearing a second, much louder knock, Fortson checked the peephole but saw no one outside. The woman says he grew concerned and went to retrieve his legally owned firearm. When he walked back into the living room, cops kicked in the door and immediate began firing at the sight of Fortson holding a gun. The witness says he laid on the floor saying, “I can’t breathe”. He would die later at the hospital.
What is it with cops not knowing how to read numbers? This case sounds very familiar to the Amber Guyger case and the death of Botham Jean.
Ubiquitous civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing Fortson’s family in the ongoing case.
“The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said.
“We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family,” Crump said. “His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy.”
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department refused to publicly name the deputies involved or disclose their races but Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney’s Office are investigating the incident while the officer is on administrative leave.
We will provide more information as it becomes available.
