By Daniel Trotta
Oct 2 (Reuters) – Civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Friday vowed to “seek accountability” in the 2024 shooting death of US Air Force airman Roger Fortson after a jury in Florida acquitted former sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran of manslaughter.
Duran’s defense attorney said the former deputy was “doing his job” that day and said Fortson would be alive had he not armed himself before opening his door.
Their statements came the day after jurors in the four-day trial returned a not guilty verdict following about two hours of deliberations.
Duran, a deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, fatally shot Fortson, 23, moments after he opened his apartment door on May 3, 2024.
In a statement, the office of State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden urged the public to respond “peacefully” to the verdict.
“We understand that this verdict will cause pain, anger, or disappointment for many people, particularly some members of the community who view Senior Airman Fortson’s death within a context of encounters nationally involving law enforcement,” the statement said.
The shooting of Fortson was national news at the time, fueling debate over race and police use of force as a number of controversial police shootings of Black men have come to light with the advance of video technology in recent years. Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran a month later, saying the use of deadly force was not reasonable.
Video from the deputy’s body camera showed Fortson opened his door while holding a handgun at his side and pointed toward the floor. The deputy immediately opened fire multiple times at close range. Fortson later died in the hospital.
Crump has won multimillion-dollar settlements for families of other Black people killed by police, including $27 million from the city of Minneapolis for the 2020 murder of George Floyd and $12 million from the city of Louisville for the death of Breonna Taylor that same year.
He has filed a federal civil rights case against Duran, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and others on behalf of Fortson’s family.
“Roger’s life and his service will always matter. His family will keep fighting for him, and we will stand with them as they pursue their civil rights case in federal court and seek accountability for the tragic loss of life,” Crump said in a statement.
In an interview with WEAR television news that aired on Friday, Duran’s defense attorney, Rod Smith, said what happened was a “tragedy” but not a crime because his client simply followed his training after seeing an armed man. Fortson should have “simply opened the door” without holding a gun, Smith said.
Fortson’s family said the deputy knocked on the wrong door when responding to a disturbance complaint. Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that deputies were responding to a complaint that did not involve Fortson.
Fortson, a senior airman, served in the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field. The Air Force posthumously awarded him the Air and Space Commendation Medal for meritorious service while assigned as a special missions aviator.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Sergio Non and Jacqueline Wong)
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