ALL White Jury Acquits Cop Who Murdered Black Air Force Airman Mini-Seconds After He Opened His Front Door: Video Shows Roger Fortson’s Palm was Up and His Gun was at His Side When Shot by Police

Florida sheriff’s deputy has been found not guilty of manslaughter with a firearm in the killing of a Black U.S. Air Force airman from DeKalb County, who was fatally shot at his apartment during a domestic disturbance call.

An Okaloosa County jury acquitted Eddie Duran, 38, on Thursday. Duran had faced up to 30 years in prison. The jury was all white. The jury selection pool consisted of over 120 Okaloosa County residents with mixed races, but the final panel chosen to decide the case contained no non-white people. Local advocate Nick Smith noted that the final jury composition failed to reflect the diversity of the pool. Smith also believed jurors ruled based on false evidence. [MORE] and [MORE]

Duran worked for the Okaloosa County sheriff’s department in May 2024 when he responded to Roger Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment near Hurlburt Field, where the airman was stationed.

Fortson retrieved his legally owned handgun and brought with him to the door of his apartment after hearing banging noises that ended up being a sheriff’s deputy. Then that was that. [The so-called 2nd Amendment protects the individual’s right to possess firearms in their home. In reality said “right” is imaginary and mostly for whites only. When Black people exercise said “right” to bear arms inside or outside the home they do so at their own risk. The quality of Black citizenship is so low that; no matter what the law says, Blacks are prohibited from possessing guns, Blacks are subject to omnipresent interference by cops with their freedom of movement and their right to be left the fuck alone, Black people are 3 times more likely than whites to be murdered by cops and the police have no legal duty to protect any particular citizen from harm unless they are in custody (“the public duty doctrine”). Said factors exist in a legal context in which law enforcement is uncontrollable by citizens, generally unaccountable to them, can’t be hired or fired by citizens and has irresponsible, limitless power over people to take life on the street as they see fit while providing a compulsory “service” that citizens have no “right” to decline.

Didn’t Airman Fortson have the right to stand his ground? The great Neely Fuller would describe the so-called state statutory right to “Stand Your Ground” as another non-law with regard to Black People. Non-law is the application or misapplication of policy or laws by racist police, citizens, prosecutors, lawmakers, jurors and judges that creates injustice for non-whites. "Stand your ground" is a self-defense, criminal defense raised at trial that allows for the use of deadly force when it is reasonable for a non-aggressor/victim to do so. In states which have variations of this law a person does not have a legal duty to retreat before using self defense to defend themselves under life threatening conditions that are reasonably apparent to the victim. Stand your ground laws are not racist - self defense is not racism. In this matter, the all white jurors obviously treated stand your ground as non-law because Fortson was Black.

Fortson, 23, was in his home in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, when he was shot by Duran, who was responding to a call reporting a domestic disturbance, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

In body camera footage released by the sheriff's office, Fortson is seen holding a gun in his right hand with a gun down at his side as he opens the door, who can be heard announcing twice that he's with the sheriff's office. The footage also shows Fortson had his left hand up, palm showing, gesturing that he meant no harm towards the deputy when he opened the door.

Duran shot Fortson within mini-seconds of the door opening. Fortson died of his injuries

Duran said he saw Fortson armed with a gun and that Fortson took a step toward the deputy and had a look of aggression in his eyes, according to an interview Duran conducted with the sheriff’s office during their subsequent investigation.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Fortson family, said at Monday's press conference that the deputy went to the wrong apartment.

He [Roger Fortson] was in the apartment by himself with his dog, Chloe, video-chatting with his girlfriend,” Crump said. “There was no domestic dispute. ...”

“This tragic incident should have never occurred,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement when he announced that Duran had been fired. “The objective facts do not support the use of deadly force as an appropriate response to Mr. Fortson’s actions. Mr. Fortson did not commit any crime. By all accounts, he was an exceptional airman and individual.”