Florida Cop Who Killed Airman Roger Fortson Found Not Guilty Of Manslaughter

The former Okaloosa County deputy who shot and killed 23-year-old Black U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson inside his own home on May 3, 2024, has been found not guilty of manslaughter, and there’s really only one takeaway from the outcome of this case: a cop’s fear can justify any deadly act, while the fear of a cop’s victim simply doesn’t matter, especially when the victim is Black.

According to ABC News, 38-year-old Eddie Duran was acquitted by a jury after more than two hours of deliberations on Thursday, after his attorney argued that police officers aren’t trained to wait until a gun is pointed at them before they shoot on sight.

For those who are unfamiliar with the case, in May 2024, Duran arrived at Fortson’s home in response to an alleged domestic disturbance call. Bodycam footage captured the officer banging loudly on the door, and then immediately opening fire on Fortson, who opened the door while holding his legal firearm at his side, pointed to the floor. Duran has only ever offered one excuse for immediately firing at Fortson: “When I saw his eyes, I saw aggression. I’m standing there thinking I’m about to get shot; I’m about to die. It is him or me at this point, and I need to act as opposed to react.”

So, it doesn’t matter that Fortson had no reason to think it was an officer banging on his door. It doesn’t matter that he likely feared danger himself. All that matters is that Duran, who was fired after the incident, claims he saw a look in Fortson’s eyes and took it as a threat. Again, it’s the only justification he has offered to date, and that didn’t change when he testified at trial on Wednesday.

“Looking at his eyes, it was clear to me that I wasn’t welcomed. I wasn’t a welcome presence. He seemed aggressive, frustrated, and again, just I’m not welcome,” he said on the stand. “I thought I was dead. As soon as the door opened and I saw it, I immediately thought, ‘I’m dead.'”

Why would someone who is aggressively banging on the door of someone who doesn’t know who they are or why they’re there be “welcomed” by that person? It’s almost as if cops have figured out that their excuses for deadly force don’t need to be plausible, because they know they’ll be afforded every benefit of the doubt in the end.

Here’s what the prosecution argued, via ABC:

Mark Alderman, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted the case, argued during closing arguments on Thursday that Fortson posed “no threat” to Duran and said that he held his handgun because he was “not sure who’s at his door.”

Alderman pointed to the body camera video shown to jurors during the trial, showing that Fortson’s gun was “pointed at the ground” when he was shot by Duran.

“There was no threat. The gun was pointed at the ground,” he said.

Alderman also said that upon opening his door, Fortson held his left arm up when he saw Duran and made “no aggressive move, no aggressive act” before he was shot.

“There’s a reason most of those gunshots enter his left arm, because he was holding it up in an effort to not be shot, and was shot repeatedly in that left arm as he holds it up in an effort to shield himself right before the shooting,” he said. “Roger’s last act was to, in essence, plead to not be shot. The defendant completely ignored it. I hope that you don’t ignore it.”

Meanwhile, the defense essentially argued that, Second Amendment be damned, cops should be able to shoot to kill the second they see a firearm at all, because that’s how they are trained.

“Do you have to wait? Do we ever train people that they have to wait until the gun is pointed at them? No. No one is trained that you wait till the gun is pointed at you. No one would take the job if that was the training,” attorney Rod Smith said during closing arguments.

“The question here is about the reasonableness of his actual fear,” he said. “What is the officer to do at that point? Wait till it’s aimed at him? No, that’s not how you’re trained. It’s imminent threat, and you respond. And he did exactly that.” 

Civil attorney Ben Crump, who represents Fortson’s family, released the following statement to NewsOne:

“This is a painful moment for everyone who loved Roger Fortson, and his family is heartbroken. Roger was a 23-year-old Senior Airman who chose to serve this country, and he was shot and killed at the door of his own home. His family has lived with that loss every day for more than two years, and this verdict is incredibly hard for them.

 “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 his life.”

SEE ALSO:

Roger Fortson: Mother Says Cop Keeps Delaying Criminal Trial

Roger Fortson’s Killer Cop Charged