The Deputy Who Shot US Airman Roger Fortson is Telling A LIE
The internal dialog he claims could not have happened
Keep this photo top of mind…
That photo clearly shows Roger Fortson’s deportment upon opening the door of his home to (now former) Deputy Eddie Duran of the Okaloosa Florida Sheriff’s Department.
Forston holds up his left hand in a gesture of supplication, surrender, and assurance, as if to say, “I am not a threat.”
Scrutinize Forston’s right hand: the gun does not seem to be held in the palm. Fortson, whose right arm seems limp, is holding the gun by the handle in his fingers; there is no tension in his hand or arm.
Watch the body cam footage of the interaction and take note of two specific items, both reflecting Deputy Duran’s deportment: first, that Duran loudly banged on Fortson’s door demanding it be opened yet waited thirty two seconds to identify himself while he stepped out of view through the peep hole, and second, observe the time between Fortson opening the door and Duran opening fire:
(Age protected, but watch the footage on YouTube)
Significant time signatures:
3:06 Duran reaches the apartment door, listens for 19 seconds
3:25 Duran bangs on door, says nothing, and steps out of view through peep hole
3:57 Thirty-two seconds later, Duran knocks, yells "Sheriff's Office! Open the door!" and again steps out of view
4:05 Knocks again, “Sheriff’s Office! Open the door!”
4:09/10 Fortson complies
4:11 As the door continues to swing open, Duran is heard commanding Fortson to “Step Back”
4:12/13 SHOTS FIRED!
4:16 Duran commands Fortson, down on the floor on his back, to “DROP THE GUN!”
4:18/20 Forston: “It’s over there… I don’t have it.”
Consider the plausibility of this internal dialog Duran claims to have had with himself:
"When I saw his eyes, I saw aggression. It was a stare that was fixated 100% on me, not eyebrows raised, not, 'Hey what's going on? Why are you here?' It was a stare ... that showed me there was aggression."
"I thought 'I am stuck in this area and I'm about to get shot. He's got me, it's either him or me at this point."
I consider it implausible that this much awareness and reflection had transpired in Deputy Duran’s mind before he pulled the trigger six times.
Deputy Duran did not have time to assess Fortson’s eyes, his eyebrows, his arms, and his handling of a gun.
Seeking to protect himself, Duran is embellishing to the point of lying.
From the Pensacola News Journal:
Okaloosa Deputy Eddie Duran told fellow officers investigating his May 3 fatal shooting of Special Forces Airman Roger Fortner that the first thing he saw was an angry look on Fortson's face.
"When I saw his eyes, I saw aggression," Duran said, according to an Okaloosa Sheriff's Office internal investigation report released Friday. "It was a stare that was fixated 100% on me, not eyebrows raised, not, 'Hey what's going on? Why are you here?' It was a stare ... that showed me there was aggression."
Duran explained that the aggression, Fortson's taking a slight step forward when ordered to step back and the tilt of his arm, which was holding a gun, pushed him to use deadly force.
"I thought 'I am stuck in this area and I'm about to get shot,'" he said. "He's got me, it's either him or me at this point."
The deputy's defense of his decision to fire on Fortson did not save his job. The Sheriff's Office announced Friday that Duran was being terminated for violating policies on officer response to resistance based on a finding that Fortson had offered none.
A video released… seemed to show Duran firing on him almost immediately as Fortson appeared at his door holding a gun pointed downward, with his other hand held up in an apparent statement of supplication.
Evidently, a neighbor reported hearing some sort of disturbance from Fortson’s apartment, listening through an AC vent, but Fortson’s girlfriend pushes back against that characterization.
The PNJ article continues…
One witness, who obviously lived in close proximity to Fortson, said that she could hear "everything" said in his apartment through an air conditioning vent in her bedroom.
She said she heard arguing coming from the apartment on May 3 unlike the "banter" she had heard previously.
"I was like 'it's never been like this and I've been here for six months,'" she said. "That's why it was kind of concerning for me."
The witness also said she never heard a female's voice during the course of the loud argument. It has since been revealed that Fortson was speaking to his girlfriend via Facetime and was alone in his apartment when Duran arrived.
"I couldn't hear anyone back, but I just assumed, because he was so loud," the witness said. "Sometimes when you're getting yelled at you just kind of like, uh, I'm in trouble. I was just like, okay, maybe she's not yelling back."
By contrast Fortson's girlfriend, also interviewed, denied that she and Fortson had been arguing. She said he was playing video games when the first knock came at the door.
"He said 'Who is it?' and also said, 'I don't know who that could be because nobody comes to my house,'" the girlfriend testified.
The girlfriend had no recollection of Fortson saying anything about police, which Duran said he'd heard through the door. She also said she had no recollection of anyone identifying themselves as being from the Sheriff's Office, which Duran clearly did based on video from his body camera.
She testified that as the knocking continued Fortson said "I'm gonna go grab my gun, 'cause I don't know who that is.'"
This case should hold all of our attention, especially among those of us who value our right to personal and home security and our Second Amendment rights.
Roger Fortson had every right to openly, legally, defensively and properly carry a gun within his own home, yes, even when opening the door to his home, and yes, even if the person knocking is a law enforcement officer.
Deputy Duran had every option available to him, including (and especially) the option to calmly knock on the door and initiate a conversation with the occupant, such as, “Sir, we’ve received reports of a disturbance from this residence. May I speak with you for a moment?” If the deputy felt exposed to shots fired at him through the door he could have spoken these words while standing to the side.
Every bit of the interaction is right in front of us; we see it all and hear it.
Roger Fortson is accustomed to following orders from uniformed people of rank. Being in the military, he’s trained with weapons and he likely felt relief that a law enforcement officer - and not a criminal - was knocking on his door.
It’s entirely reasonable that Fortson’s first reaction would be defensive suspicion; Duran waited 32 seconds, out of sight, between first knocking aggressively and then identifying himself as a deputy. His barked command to “Open the door!” was needlessly aggressive. No citizen is obligated to open the door of his home simply because a representative of the state is shouting at you to open it.
United States Airman Roger Fortson should be alive today and would be if the deputy responding to the call had not mishandled the encounter with fatal incompetence.
The BEC