The footage taken from a police body camera showing the moment U.S. Airman Roger Fortson was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff’s deputy is “very troubling” the family’s attorney Ben Crump told Jake Tapper on Thursday.
“Even though it provides some answers, it leaves us with more troubling questions … he doesn’t give [Forston] a chance.”
Crump, who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases, explained that Forston, a decorated member of the U.S. military followed every command the unnamed officer gave.
“You don’t hear him give the verbal command to drop the weapon, or put your hands up,” Crump said. “He immediately, within a split second, of saying, ‘Step back,’ which Roger, a decorated military airman, follows all of his commands. He goes to step back, and bam, bam bam—he doesn’t give him a chance to comply.”
In the footage, Crump continued, Forston “is doing everything the man says … and it’s so troubling.”
Forston was alone in his home in Florida when he was shot by the officer on May 3. Both Crump and Forston’s family allege authorities mistakenly burst into his home in pursuit of someone else.
“They had the wrong apartment,” Crump told Tapper. “They need to own up to it. The apartment complex or the police—they had the wrong apartment. This young man was a model officer, and he was a model citizen.”
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said at a press conference on Thursday he recently met with Forston’s family and “extended our deepest condolences to them.” Aden also said the case has been referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“What we do know at this time is that the deputy announced himself, Mr. Fortson’s comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at his door, and that he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand. The deputy knocked on the correct door. He did not cover the peephole or otherwise obscure its view,” Aden added.
Watch the interview with attorney Ben Crump in the video above.