Current Events > Florida sheriff deputies burst into wrong apartment and fatally shot U.S. airman

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-fortson-airman-killed-deputy-wrong-apartment-florida/

Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked who was there but didn't get a response. A few minutes later, there was a very aggressive knock on the door, Crump said in a statement, but Fortson didn't see anyone when he looked out the peephole.
The woman said Fortson was concerned and went to retrieve his gun, which Crump said was legally owned.
As Fortson walked back through his living room, deputies burst through the door, saw that Fortson was armed and shot him six times, according to Crump's statement

RIP to him.

id get modded if i said what i think should be done to these officers

you mean its not paid leave while they are investigated by their own and eventually found not liable because they were "reasonably defending themselves"? because that's what will happen

it's pretty much 100% bullshit that cops are not required to identify themselves when they bang on doors like this.

The fact cops aren't required to identify themselves as police is still insane to me.

Opening doors is how you get fucking got.

wackyteen posted...

The fact cops aren't required to identify themselves as police is still insane to me.

Opening doors is how you get fucking got.

our 'justice system' would rather prevent one bad guy from fleeing or flushing his stash than prevent innocent people from being killed.

Protected and served that guy.

wackyteen posted...

The fact cops aren't required to identify themselves as police is still insane to me.

Opening doors is how you get fucking got.

and if this man had shot the officer cus he feared for his life

he would have been raked over the coals by our "legal" system

wackyteen posted...

The fact cops aren't required to identify themselves as police is still insane to me.

Opening doors is how you get fucking got.

This!

AceMos posted...

and if this man had shot the officer cus he feared for his life

he would have been raked over the coals by our "legal" system

Nah, if he had shot the officer, he'd still be dead

Giant_Aspirin posted...

it's pretty much 100% bullshit that cops are not required to identify themselves when they bang on doors like this.

I think they are required though. Too often it never happens. They need to be charged with some type of murder.

Here's something I found regarding my earlier post. I haven't independently verified though.

Title 18 U.S.C. 3109 states:
The officer may break open
any outer or inner door or
window of a house, or any
part of a house, or anything
therein, to execute a search
warrant, if, after notice of
his authority and purpose,
he is refused admittance or
when necessary to liberate
himself or a person aiding
him in the execution of the
warrant.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

I think they are required though. Too often it never happens. They need to be charged with some type of murder.

did some quick searching and found this

https://www.mattieforelaw.com/does-florida-law-allow-no-knock-searches-like-the-one-that-caused-breonna-taylors-death

Florida is one of two states in the United States that prohibits the issuance of no-knock warrants. This ban was originally issued in the 1994 Florida Supreme Court case of State v. Bamber and was later enacted by statute.This means that a judge cannot issue a search warrant that authorizes police to enter a residence without first announcing their presence.

but we all know cops selectively follow laws, especially when minorities are involved.

edit: but that wouldn't apply here b/c they did knock. they did not identify themselves as police, though.

Giant_Aspirin posted...

edit: but that wouldn't apply here b/c they did knock. they did not identify themselves as police, though.

To me that's just semantics. The point of knocking is to announce yourself imo. If you just knock and hide or don't respond when asked who is there, then you may as well not knocked

the only way this will EVER change is if we start paying for these lawsuits from the police pension funds instead of with taxpayer money. or maybe cops should be required to carry liability insurance, similar to doctors.

cops should have liability insurance and being a cop should require a bachelor's degree in anything. fucking art history or psychology or something my god.

Police need to spend more time learning how to find the right street address. And fuck off with no knock warrants.

So murder charges when?

Qualified immunity

ACAB. Every last one.
This might go a bit different than the usual cop murdering a dude. The military tends to not like it's people, who they spend a ton of time and money training, to get killed by civilians.

Right to bare arms in action.

JoeDangIt posted...

Right to bare arms in action.

Expectation vs reality

How is it fucking legal for the police to just execute someone for holding a completely legal firearm?

This is disgusting as shit. Those cops should be fired and given life in jail, at the least.

Any and all lawsuits should payout from their pensions and even personal if necessary too. Don't make the taxpayers pay for these fuckups if we can't even get them out of office.

Qualified Immunity has to be banned

people beat me to these topics here on CE; iz nice

I studied criminal justice as part of my college degree, and I went on a bunch of ride alongs with police as part of a class (including a couple of rides in a helicopter, which I still cant believe was an option for liability reasons. Come to think of it, the whole program was kind of dangerous and probably wouldnt be allowed today).

I talked with these DC police officers a lot, and they talked about how important it was to knock and announce even if it meant evidence got flushed or something. They always talked about situations just like this, and how it was much safer for them and the person inside if they clearly identified themselves as police right off the bat. I went with these men and women to a lot of doors, and they always knocked and yelled Police before doing anything.

I think about this every time I read a horrible story like this. They are so frequent now. How is it that police departments still havent figured this out when the need to identify has long been apparent?

Westernwolf4 posted...

I think about this every time I read a horrible story like this. They are so frequent now. How is it that police departments still havent figured this out when the need to identify has long been apparent?

Because they're hyped up on warrior cop bullshit.

Let's hope him being in the armed forces gets him some justice.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Here's something I found regarding my earlier post. I haven't independently verified though.

i believe that only applies to federal law enforcement and not local swine

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Real.

cjsdowg posted...

Let's hope him being in the armed forces gets him some justice.

Screw local courts, put those cops before a military court. In my dreams.

Sad

Somehow, I knew the airman was black before opening the link.

Hopefully his military status gets those pigs more than just a slap on the wrist. Unlikely, but.

Why would cops under any circumstance bang aggressively on a door, hide from the peep hole, and refuse to identify themselves before busting in someone's door? After the person asks who it is?

That's setting themselves up to be shot as the home owner defends themselves against an unknown threat. If all this is accurate it can't be proper protocol.

bobspacethespacecow posted...

i believe that only applies to federal law enforcement and not local swine

Ahh, you're probably correct on that

LeoRavus posted...

Why would cops under any circumstance bang aggressively on a door, hide from the peep hole, and refuse to identify themselves before busting in someone's door? After the person asks who it is?

That's setting yourself up to be shot as the home owner defends themselves against an unknown threat. If all this is accurate it can't be proper protocol.

So they dont get shot through the door, someone may open it if they dont know its the cops, and the perpetrator cant identify how many are there.

Not defending it, my response is in post 31. Im just explaining.

this is completely insane.

BDSMKane posted...

So they dont get shot through the door, someone may open it if they dont know its the cops, and the perpetrator cant identify how many are there.

Not defending it, my response is in post 31. Im just explaining.

That part makes sense and I've seen videos of cops covering up Ring cameras, but if they're actually going to come through the door?

According to the people inside that could be anyone and would be terrifying causing a fight or flight situation.

LeoRavus posted...

That part makes sense and I've seen videos of cops covering up Ring cameras, but if they're actually going to come through the door?

According to the people inside that could be anyone and would be terrifying causing a fight or flight situation.

Unfortunately the disorientation is a frequent goal in police procedures. They dont want you calm and thinking clearly, they want you in a panic and unable to muster any practical resistance.

But then you have people who have trained for that. Whether theyre active or ex military/LEO, firearm enthusiasts, used to a dangerous neighborhood, or red cap gun nuts. Thats when situations like this occur.

Again, no defense of the situation, just discussion. I think there needs to be sweeping reform for law enforcement, and would support disarming the average cop (and keeping citizens armed).

Sad thing is that nobody with any power is interested in any sort of actual police reform. As long as they do their main job, which is to protect the status quo and oppress the lower classes, they'll continue to be untouchable.

BDSMKane posted...

Unfortunately the disorientation is a frequent goal in police procedures. They dont want you calm and thinking clearly, they want you in a panic and unable to muster any practical resistance.

But then you have people who have trained for that. Whether theyre active or ex military/LEO, firearm enthusiasts, used to a dangerous neighborhood, or red cap gun nuts. Thats when situations like this occur.

Again, no defense of the situation, just discussion. I think there needs to be sweeping reform for law enforcement, and would support disarming the average cop (and keeping citizens armed).

It still doesn't make sense to me how they'd think it's any safer to act like a ding dong ditcher when someone asks who it is before busting their door down.

I'd think most people with weapons, whether they're guilty of a crime or not, would be prepared to defend themselves from an unknown intruder. Imaging myself in that scenario and I had a gun, I'd be ready to shoot when the door flung open if I didn't know it was the cops.

The infamous Floridaman strikes again.

LeoRavus posted...

It still doesn't make sense to me how they'd think it's any safer to act like a ding dong ditcher when someone asks who it is before busting their door down.

I'd think most people with weapons, whether they're guilty of a crime or not, would be prepared to defend themselves from an unknown intruder.

Like you said, ding dong ditcher. Home invasions rarely start like that. Its usually pranks orwell, cops. Also most people who own weapons are still too sheltered to have that training or thought process. Theyre not actually prepared to need to use them. Thats why theres hundreds of millions of guns in a country with hundreds of thousands of daily front door deliveries and only ~20,000-30,000 or so gun homicides a year with maybe a few dozen being scenarios of wrong address.

Personally, I dont even have a peephole or camera. Thats just time wasted. I always answer my door with my gun behind my back, and when I was younger it was a knife; and both are within reach of me at all times. But thats a lot to do with where Im fromwhere I live now isnt too bad.

The video was released just now(30 minutes ago ). Police statement is he was at the correct unit. I havent watched the bodycam yet. Supposedly, on the video, he talks to a woman in the complex who says the unit is 1401 and theres a disturbance sounds like a DV, and heard like a slap. This is all from the news article not me

On camera, 1401 is clearly visible. He knocks and announces himself as police twice. The airmen opens the door with a gun in his hand and is shot. I guess theres a lot of confusion about wtf happened here. Again, all on the article not me

My thing from the video comments, is he didnt issue any verbal commands before shooting. And if hes responding to what sounds like a domestic, where is his back. Shouldnt be going to that alone

Noname13 posted...

The video was released just now(30 minutes ago ). Police statement is he was at the correct unit. I havent watched the bodycam yet. Supposedly, on the video, he talks to a woman in the complex who says the unit is 1401 and theres a disturbance sounds like a DV, and heard like a slap. This is all from the news article not me

On camera, 1401 is clearly visible. He knocks and announces himself as police twice. The airmen opens the door with a gun in his hand and is shot. I guess theres a lot of confusion about wtf happened here. Again, all on the article not me

My thing from the video comments, is he didnt issue any verbal commands before shooting. And if hes responding to what sounds like a domestic, where is his back. Shouldnt be going to that alone

I saw the video too. The officer did announce himself. The guy opens the door with a gun pointed at the floor directly down and holding his other hand up in a kind of take it easy gesture. It didnt look like he was posing a threat even with the gun in his hand. The cop opens fire immediately.

It looks bad on the cop and is a really sad set of events.

itachi15243 posted...

How is it fucking legal for the police to just execute someone for holding a completely legal firearm?

Because you have no rights once police get involved as their safety supersedes all our rights. The fact that so much of the nation cheers/runs defense for cops shows the whole "we need firearms to prevent a tyrannical government" narrative is bullshit, as it would be the cops enforcing the rules of said tyrannical government.

Theres no reason why the officers need to be allowed outside of a prison ever again if they kill an innocent person in a manner such as this. Except for their funeral when they die in prison. This includes whenever they do no-knock raids

whitelytning posted...

I saw the video too. The officer did announce himself. The guy opens the door with a gun pointed at the floor directly down and holding his other hand up in a kind of take it easy gesture. It didnt look like he was posing a threat even with the gun in his hand. The cop opens fire immediately.

It looks bad on the cop and is a really sad set of events.

I'll never get over the fact that civilians are held to higher fucking standards than police.

Hell, PTSD riddled soldiers are held to higher fucking standards in war. The ones who might have an actual fucking reason to be jumpy on the trigger.

wackyteen posted...

I'll never get over the fact that civilians are held to higher fucking standards than police.

Hell, PTSD riddled soldiers are held to higher fucking standards in war. The ones who might have an actual fucking reason to be jumpy on the trigger.

This is the same department that started shooting when acorns dropped. There are no standards

Giant_Aspirin posted...

the only way this will EVER change is if we start paying for these lawsuits from the police pension funds instead of with taxpayer money. or maybe cops should be required to carry liability insurance, similar to doctors.

I've suggested this so many times, people usually push back saying that it would only encourage other cops to cover up the crimes. Thing is, they're already doing that! Maybe if their pensions are at risk you'll see cops actually caring if other cops are doing shit like this.