air force assignment video

A TikToker's viral reaction to her Air Force assignment has ignited support and commiseration about a widely-dreaded base in North Dakota

• TikToker Callie Green's hilariously horrified reaction to her Air Force assignment has been viewed 14 million times.
• Those in the know assumed she was assigned to Minot, North Dakota, a unanimously dreaded base among airmen.
• Commenters have chimed in with sympathy and commiseration, while others are learning details about Air Force assignments for the first time.

A viral TikTok from a user who goes by Callie Green is shining a light on the Air Force assignment process for the uninitiated — specifically about an infamous base in North Dakota that is apparently widely dreaded among airmen. 

In Green's video, which has accrued 13.3 million views since it was shared on April 5, the TikToker and a colleague recorded themselves learning about their assignments. Inset text read, "POV: you put all overseas in your dream sheet, but the Air Force had other plans." 

Upon getting the news, neither verbalize the name of the base, but both dissolve into horrified laughter. "I was not expecting that," Green says in the video, as her colleague covers her mouth and repeatedly shouts, "No!"

Commenters were of two minds: They were either utterly clueless or knew precisely what the reactions meant. 

@calliegreenn finding out our assignments😍😍😍 ♬ original sound - Callie Green

"That NO made me IMMEDIATELY think she got MINOT," reads one of the video's top comments. Another said, "Me googling Minot because I ended on this side of tiktok and don't know what's happening."

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Green has not responded to commenters asking about the assignment, though she did react to going viral in response to a tweet from BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulus, who called the TikTok compelling and niche. 

Insider has reached out to Green for comment and confirmation about the speculations.

The Minot Air Force Base, located just south of the Canadian border, has become somewhat notorious, with others on TikTok bemoaning their assignments. 

In a December 2021 video with 364,000 views, the user @hutchyharley can be seen flipping off "whoever ... thought it would be funny to put me at Minot for four years." Months earlier, the user @jaciiie simply wrote, " I want to leave so bad, such a sick joke " after sharing her station with viewers.

@aimhighwhiting #military #whynotminot #minot #northdakota #airforce #fyp ♬ original sound - sp 🦈

In a video from February , user @aimhighwhiting captioned, "POV: you check your orders and see Minot, North Dakota," as he filmed himself jumping up from a chair in frustration and pretending to hurl his tablet onto the ground. 

Last year, Task and Purpose covered Minot's infamous status in the Air Force with more serious anecdotes. In addition to being in a frigid and remote location, the outlet reported that people claiming to be Minot veterans were anonymously posting on Facebook about being "overworked, mismanaged, and disrespected based on their gender."

At the time, Minot's chief of public affairs, Maj. Christopher Mesnard, told the outlet that leadership was addressing these concerns. 

Reactions to professional and educational assignments have become a massive draw on TikTok, including college acceptance results , as well as "Match Day," in which medical students learn where they will be completing their residencies.

Watch: What new Air Force recruits go through in boot camp

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Air Force Resurrects Assignment Swap Program for Enlisted Ranks

Enlisted airmen will be able to swap assignments under a new program launching next month, offering some service members flexibility on where they're stationed across the country and what roles they're given.

The Air Force Enlisted Swap Assignment Program, which becomes available June 1 for airmen, will allow senior master sergeants and below to discuss and search for roles that may be available to trade.

It's the latest quality-of-life issue the service has tackled as it reworks numerous policies amid a historic recruiting crisis. Earlier this month, the Air Force announced another policy that would give airmen who just joined the military a chance to retrain into another job as a way to keep them from leaving the service.

Read Next: A Soldier Attempted Suicide in Poland. Left to Roam at Fort Riley, He Killed Himself.

"Just like our recent policy change authorizing retraining, this is one of the many initiatives we are rolling out to ensure we are able to retrain the talent we need on the bench," Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said in a press release. "Building the force of the future requires us to look at our personnel policies and balance them with an integrated approach to ensure we maintain the highest standards of readiness."

The new swap program starting next month was first pitched by Bass, the service's senior enlisted leader, at the Air and Space Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber conference in September.

Details of the program were vague when first pitched last year, and specifics have now been ironed out ahead of the launch next month.

The Air Force Enlisted Swap Assignment Program is available to senior master sergeants and below who can find a match for the same career field with the same Control Air Force Specialty Code; skill level; grade or projected grade; special experience identifier, as required; vector, as required; and security clearance, as required.

Airmen must start the swaps within 90 days from their assignment selection date. They can't have adverse quality force indicators and "must possess the same permanent change-of-station eligibility, such as time on station, tour length and retainability," a press release detailing the June 1 start date said .

The service had a similar version of an assignment swap program in the past.

An Air Force press release from 2007 first informed service members they would need to look for fellow qualified airmen in the continental U.S. whom they could switch with. The switch would, ultimately, have to be approved by commanders.

But a decade later, the program was shut down, according to a 2017 Facebook post from the Air Force Personnel Center . Officials said the program was being underutilized and favored airmen with larger paychecks.

"It was found that less than 5% of airmen were taking advantage of this program, and it was ultimately deemed unfair," the 2017 post from the Air Force Personnel Center announcing the change read. "With the burden of expenses for moving locations falling on the airman, some airmen of higher rank could afford the move, while some younger airmen could not."

To make swapping assignments more financially equitable, the new policy "will not require airmen to pay for their relocations," according to a memo detailing the guidelines .

When the previous program was in place, airmen used blogs and even newspaper ads to market career swaps.

In the press release announcing the new program start date, officials told airmen they "are reminded not to use open online spaces to post assignment information, personal contact and other sensitive confidential information to maintain operational security."

The Air Force is using its internal MyVector discussion forum to post about potential assignment swaps, though the service admitted in its press release that the system has frequent issues.

"The program application on MyVector isn't perfect, but it will evolve throughout the year," Alex Wagner, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said in the press release.

Airmen can apply for swaps through the "My Application link" on MyVector, according to the release.

"We aren't waiting for the perfect system to be built, and I'm glad to see this program come to fruition," Bass said.

The release of the new swap program comes after the Air Force barely met its active-duty recruiting goals last year and has pivoted to fixing numerous quality-of-life issues and barriers to serving in the military through policy changes.

This past March, the service was projecting a 10% shortfall for this year -- the equivalent of around 5,000 people, nearly the total of all the airmen at the 366th Fighter Wing stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base , Idaho.

The Air Force Recruiting Service has pointed to numerous headwinds that have made it hard to bring in new members, such as low unemployment. Additionally, the Pentagon has released recent studies showing that only 23% of U.S. youth are eligible to serve right now, due to obesity and other issues.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Some Airmen Will Be Allowed to Swap Base Assignments Again

Thomas Novelly

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Florida sheriff's office releases bodycam video of fatal shooting of Air Force airman by deputy

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office released police body camera video Thursday showing one of its deputies shooting and killing an Air Force airman at his off-base apartment last week.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot late Friday afternoon by a deputy responding to a call of a disturbance in progress, the sheriff’s office said. Okaloosa County is in the Florida Panhandle, east of Pensacola.

The video, which lasts just more than four minutes, begins as the deputy arrives at Fortson’s apartment complex and ends after Fortson has been shot and the deputy calls for medical assistance.

Earlier Thursday, attorneys for Fortson's family had called for the sheriff's office to “correct the narrative” surrounding his death, saying that he had done nothing wrong before being fatally shot and that the deputy had gone to the wrong door.

At a news conference hours later, Sheriff Eric Aden said no determination had been made as to whether the deputy’s actions were justified.

“I want to assure you that we are not hiding or covering up or taking action that would result in a rush to judgment of Mr. Fortson or our deputy,” Aden said.

He said the deputy had not entered the wrong apartment or forced his way into Fortson’s residence, and that the deputy twice identified himself. Aden did not take any questions from reporters.

Fortson’s mother and her attorneys said at a news conference that his girlfriend, who was on a FaceTime call with him throughout the encounter, said that the deputy burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot Fortson when he saw he was armed with a gun. They said the girlfriend, who did not attend the news conference, was distraught. They watched the video after their news conference and before it was released publicly.

The video shows the deputy arriving on scene and being directed to apartment 1401 by a woman whose face is blurred. The woman tells him that someone had overheard arguing there.

The video shows the deputy knocking and twice saying, “Sheriff’s office. Open the door.”

When Fortson opens the door, he appears to be holding a gun that is facing downward. The deputy says, “Step back,” and fires his weapon multiple times. Fortson falls to the floor. The deputy twice yells, “Drop the gun,” to which Fortson replies, “It’s over there.”

The deputy then calls for medical assistance.

“He lost his life because they knocked on the wrong door. Mistakes happen. We know that,” said Brian Barr, one of the family’s attorneys, before the video was released. “Humans aren’t perfect. Good people make mistakes. But good people also own their mistakes.”

He said the sheriff’s office, through its statement about the shooting, had misled the public.

“You go pick it up and read it. What’s it make you think? It makes you think this happened outside. That this kid was in the middle of a disturbance,” Barr said. “And he did something. He instigated this and lost his life. That’s what it makes it sound like. It sounded justified. That’s what they tried to make it sound like.”

In its statement, the sheriff’s office said: “Our deputy responded to a call of a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man. The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries.”

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is also representing Fortson’s family, had also criticized the sheriff’s office’s account before the video’s release.

Fortson’s mother, Chantimekki Fortson, held a framed photograph of her son in his uniform. She said he had aspired to be in the Air Force since he was a young boy and was living his dream. She described him as compassionate, intelligent, loving and respectful.

She implored the sheriff’s department, which she said, “took my gift,” to release more information about the encounter.

“I need you to get his reputation right,” Chantimekki Fortson said. “Tell the truth about my son. I know my son didn’t do anything to you guys. Please clean my baby’s reputation.”

After the video’s release, Fortson’s family said in a statement: “In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger.”

They said the video has provided some answers, but “also raised even more troubling questions.” They questioned, among other things, why the deputy didn’t tell Fortson to drop his weapon before shooting and whether he had tried to initiate lifesaving measures. They also said that even though Fortson’s girlfriend initially thought his apartment door had been forced open, she stands by her account and will speak publicly in the near future.

The sheriff’s office has said the deputy, who has not been publicly identified, heard “sounds of a disturbance” and “reacted in self defense” after he encountered Fortson armed with a gun and after he had identified himself as law enforcement.

But Fortson’s mother and her attorneys said that Fortson was on the FaceTime call with his girlfriend during the entire encounter and that he was home alone when he heard a knock at his door. He asked, “Who is it?” but didn’t get a response, Crump said in a statement Wednesday and at his news conference.

Crump said Thursday that Fortson did not see anyone when he looked through the peephole and it appeared as if someone was covering it, citing the girlfriend. The video does not appear to show the deputy cover the peephole. He appears to be standing to the side of the door when he knocks and announces himself the first time.

Fortson believed someone was attempting to break into his apartment, Barr said. So he retrieved his gun, which his family’s attorneys said was legally owned. As he walked back through his living room, law enforcement burst through the door, saw that Fortson was armed and shot him six times, according to the girlfriend’s account. He was taken to a hospital where he later died, the sheriff’s office said.

The girlfriend said she saw Fortson on the ground saying, “I can’t breathe,” after he was shot. She said she believed law enforcement had gone to the wrong unit, because there was no disturbance in Fortson’s apartment and he was home alone.

Chantimekki Fortson said her son’s girlfriend called her while she was still on the FaceTime call. The grieving mother said her son was shot three times in the chest and three times in the left arm.

Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron. Hurlburt Field, the Air Force base where he was assigned, said in a statement that he entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019.

In a statement late Tuesday, Aden said he “immediately” placed the deputy on administrative leave and asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an investigation, as required by policy. He said the Florida State Attorney’s Office would also conduct an independent review.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed it was investigating the shooting and declined to comment further.

Crump compared Fortson’s killing to that of Botham Jean, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed in 2018 by a white, off-duty Dallas police officer who mistook his apartment for her own. Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder the following year and sentenced to 10 years in prison .

Crump represented Jean’s family, as well as the families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd , who were also killed by police.

Janelle Griffith is a national reporter for NBC News focusing on issues of race and policing.

Bodycam footage shows moment deputy fatally shoots Air Force airman at his home

P olice in Florida have released bodycam footage showing the moment a deputy fatally shot an Air Force airman as he answered the door to his apartment last week.

Roger Fortson, 23, a Black senior airman, is seen in the video answering the door while holding a handgun by his side before -- the deputy opened fire multiple times at close range. Fortson later died in the hospital.

The bodycam footage was released after the family’s civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, who represents the family, urged officials to make it public. The family and local police are in a dispute as to what really happened in the lead-up to the deadly shooting which took place in Okaloosa County, which is located in the northwest of Florida. 

AIR FORCE AIRMAN FATALLY SHOT WHEN FLORIDA DEPUTIES BREACHED WRONG APARTMENT, ATTORNEY SAYS

The deputy was responding to a domestic disturbance report on May 3, but Fortson’s family says law enforcement knocked on the wrong door. Fortson’s family also says that the deputy gave no verbal commands before pulling the trigger.  

"It is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger," the family said in a statement released by Crump.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting and no one else was in the apartment," the family statement added.

The video shows the deputy walking up to a brown apartment door at around 4:30 p.m. and then waiting outside as if he is checking for noise coming from the unit. All that is audible is a dog barking and then the deputy moves to the side of the door.

After about 25 seconds, the deputy knocks on the door and shouts, "Sheriff’s office, open the door." He then repeats it before Fortson opens the door holding a gun in his right hand by his side. 

The deputy fires off multiple shots and Fortson falls backward onto the ground before the deputy shouts "drop the gun, drop the gun."

"It’s over there," Forston can be heard saying with pain in his voice. "I don’t have it."

The deputy can then be heard calling for EMS.

Sheriff Eric Aiden of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office disputed claims that the deputy called to the wrong apartment and said that the investigation needs to answer many questions before a determination can be made about whether the officer's actions were justified. 

"We are aware of a press release and other comments that falsely state our deputy entered the wrong apartment and imply that they burst through the door into Mr. Fortson’s residence," Aiden said in a Thursday press conference. "Those statements are inaccurate, as shown in the video that we are about to see." 

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"What we do know at this time is that the deputy did announce himself not once, but twice. Mr. Fortson’s comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at the door and 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 in any way."

He added that law enforcement is committed to transparency and looks forward to FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) and the state attorney's report.

It remains unclear who called law enforcement on the day of the shooting or why.

In other bodycam footage, a woman meets the deputy at the complex and directs him to apartment 1401, where she said she heard noises that sounded like domestic abuse two weeks prior. 

But there was no indication of why any witness might suspect there was a disturbance in that apartment on the day of the shooting because Fortson was home there alone. That is why the family suspects the deputy was directed to the wrong door.

Crump said that Fortson was on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend when he heard a knock on his door. He asked, "Who is it?" but didn't get a response, Crump said, relating the girlfriend's account.

Fortson then retrieved a gun he owned legally and walked back through his living room toward the door, Crump said.

"He was in his apartment minding his business and then... this cascade of tragic events started to take place," Crump said.

Crump's office also released FaceTime video from Fortson's call with his girlfriend that seemed to capture Fortson moaning and saying "I can't breathe" as he lay mortally wounded, according to Reuters. The camera appeared to be pointed at a ceiling fan and did not show Fortson or the deputy, the publication reports. 

The Air Force says Forston supported its special operations wing at Hurlburt Field.

"They took a patriot from us," Crump said at a press conference with the family. "He respected authority, had he known they were the police… he would have just opened up his apartment."

Crump was also an attorney for the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was an emergency medical technician, who died in similar circumstances to Fortson when police burst into her apartment with a drug warrant .

Taylor’s boyfriend at the time, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door and they returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times. No drugs or cash were found at Taylor's apartment.

Crump said Fortson always dreamed of becoming a pilot, describing him as a patriot and a good young man who followed rules and respected authority.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Original article source: Bodycam footage shows moment deputy fatally shoots Air Force airman at his home

Florida sheriff releases graphic video of deputy shooting Air Force special ops flyer

Video shows the deadly encounter lasted just five seconds.

By Matt White , Jeff Schogol | Published May 9, 2024 4:50 PM EDT

The encounter in which a Florida sheriff’s deputy shot an Air Force AC-130 gunship crewman inside his apartment near Hurlburt Field was a split-second confrontation in which the officer drew and fired his pistol directly at the airman immediately after the man opened his front door holding a pistol.

But his family says the graphic video, and a second one recorded by the airman’s girlfriend over Facetime during the shooting, brings up more questions than answers.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson died soon after the May 5 shooting. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office released the bodycam footage from the incident Thursday afternoon, soon after allowing Fortson’s family to view the footage. His family then released FaceTime footage of a call between Fortson and his girlfriend when the shooting occurred. That audio captures Fortson gasping “I can’t breathe.” 

In a statement through their lawyer, Fortson’s family said, “despite the redactions, the [sheriff’s] video has provided some answers, but it’s also raised even more troubling questions: As the officer didn’t tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?”  

Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Eric Aden said he met with Fortson’s family for the viewing and offered his condolences to them. He also disputed reports the deputy had gone to the wrong apartment or had entered Fortson’s apartment without warning.

“We are aware of a press release and other comments that falsely state our deputy entered the wrong apartment and implied that they burst through the door into Mr. Fortson’s residence,” Aden told reporters during a Thursday news conference. “Those statements are inaccurate.”

However, in a statement released after the bodycam footage was made public, Fortson’s lawyer, Ben Crump, insisted that Fortson’s apartment was incorrectly targeted, even if the deputy had the correct address.

“We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment,” Crump said.

Okaloosa Sheriff bodycam video

From the bodycam video, one key fact previously claimed by the Sheriff’s office is clear: Fortson was holding a handgun when he answered the door.

However, in the brief moment in which the gun is visible before he falls, Fortson is holding the gun at his side.

The video also confirms several other claims that had surfaced around the shooting and dispels others.

• The deputy loudly identifies himself twice as law enforcement and does not cover the “peephole” in the door — both actions that reports on social media had called into question. However, the deputy does move well clear of the door after his first knock to where he may have been difficult to see through the peephole. It is also not clear if Fortson ever hears the deputy’s shouts.
• Fortson’s family has said the deputy went to the “wrong” apartment, but the video shows that the deputy was called to the scene by staff of the apartment complex, one of whom directs him to apartment “1401,” a number clearly visible outside Fortson’s door. The staffer escorts the deputy to the elevator that led to Fortson’s apartment.
• Fortson did not fire any shots and fell immediately to the ground when the deputy fired.

The entire violent encounter lasted five seconds, according to the timestamp on the video: Fortson begins to open the door at 4:32:00. The deputy tells him to “step back” as the door swings open two seconds later, then immediately draws and fires at least five shots (a lawyer for Fortson’s family claimed earlier Thursday that Fortson had been shot six times).

After the shots, with Fortson on the ground, the deputy yells for Fortson to “drop the gun” and Fortson responds “it’s over there” and “I don’t have it.”

The video ends with the deputy reporting that shots have been fired and requesting emergency medical services come to the scene.

Facetime video inside Fortson’s apartment

Crumb and Fortson’s family released a second video on Thursday after the Okaloosa Sheriff’s video was public. That video is a snippet from a FaceTime call that Fortson’s family says was ongoing prior to and during the shooting. Though the video is mostly of a ceiling, but the audio is gruesome , as it captures Fortson wheezing and telling officers “I can’t breathe.”

The officers search Fortson’s home, delaying several minutes before check on Fortson’s medical condition. Fortson was a Special Missions Aviator assigned to AC-130J gunships under the 4th Special Operations Squadron, 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019. He arrived at Hurlburt Field in March of 2020. His decorations include an Air Force Achievement Medal and Air Medal with a ‘C’ Device. The ‘C’ Device indicates service or achievement performed under combat conditions. He was deployed to Southwest Asia in mid-2023 for which he earned the Air Medal.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is following the case “closely,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Thursday. The Defense Department offers its thoughts and prayers to Fortson’s family.

“A tragic situation here,” Ryder said at a Pentagon news conference. “As I mentioned we’re certainly saddened by the loss of our airman. We obviously need the investigation to run its course, don’t want to get ahead of that. But we certainly never want to see our airmen or any military member or part of our DoD family be put into a situation like this. So, again, we need to allow time for the investigation to run its course, and we’ll certainly have more to say once we’ve had the opportunity to see that.”

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Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose . He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism. He teaches news writing at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media where he is frequently referred to as a "very tough grader" on Rate My Professor. Contact the author here.

Jeff Schogol is a senior staff writer for Task & Purpose. He has covered the military for 15 years, with previous bylines at the Express-Times in Easton, Pennsylvania, Stars & Stripes, and Military Times. You can email him at [email protected], direct message @JeffSchogol on Twitter, or reach him on WhatsApp and Signal at 703-909-6488. Contact the author here.

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'Police entered wrong apartment': Ben Crump takes case of airmen killed by deputy. What we know

National civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has confirmed that he is representing the family of Roger Fortson , the airman  who was killed  in a deputy-involved shooting on Friday, May 3 in Fort Walton Beach.

“The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said in his statement on Wednesday, May 8.

Continuing: "We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family. His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy."

See latest update on Roger Fortson: Family of Florida airman killed by Okaloosa deputies demands his name be cleared

Where is Fort Walton Beach?

Fort Walton Beach is a small city in the Florida Panhandle, tucked between Panama City Beach and Pensacola.

Who is Roger Fortson?

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field when he was fatally shot at his home at Chez Elan Apartments .

According to The Associated Press , he was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during missions.

"Roger enlisted in the military after graduating from high school with honors and had no criminal record," Crump said in the release. "By all accounts, he was a stellar member of the Air Force and loved by his community."

What happened to Roger Fortson at his Fort Walton Beach apartment?

According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, authorities were called to Fortson's apartment about 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 3 in reference to an apparent disturbance.

Once a deputy arrived on the scene, the officials said he “reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun." The office has not shared details on what kind of disturbance deputies were responding to or who called them.

Fortson died at his off-base residence, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement released Monday.

However, a news release from Crump's law office details the encounter played out differently.

According to Crump's press release, a witness who was on a Facetime call with Fortson at the time of the shooting said that Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at his door.

Fortson asked, "Who is it?" and failed to get a response, the release says. A few minutes later, Fortson heard an "aggressive" knock, but failed to see anyone once he looked out his peephole.

Fortson, concerned for his safety, retrieved his legally owned gun, the release says. As Fortson returned to the living room, the witness said, deputies "burst through his door." When deputies saw the gun, they fired at Fortson six times.

The witness said he saw Fortson on the ground, stating, "I can't breathe," after he was shot. The witness also said police were at the wrong apartment, and there was no disturbance, according to the release.

In a Thursday press conference, Crump said it is their belief that the deputy who shot Fortson had entered the wrong apartment in answering a domestic disturbance call, with the agency allegedly trying to change the story and cover up what really happened.

"Hearing sounds of a disturbance, he reacted in self defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun after the deputy identified himself as law enforcement," the release said.

"You read that statement, it makes you think this was outside, there was a disturbance and this kid was creating a scene," Brian Barr, an attorney from Pensacola's Levin Levin Papantonio Rafferty firm who is co-counseling in this case alongside Crump, said. "They made it sound so convincing."

He told the assembled media, "none of you covered it. It didn't get any attention. I didn't hear about it until this Tuesday, and I live here. This statement made people try to forget about Roger."

Who is Ben Crump? Represented Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd

Ben Crump is an attorney who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits

His practice has focused on cases such as:

• Trayvon Martin
• Breonna Taylor
• Michael Brown
• George Floyd
• Keenan Anderson
• People affected by the Flint water crisis,
• The estate of Henrietta Lacks,
• The 2019 Johnson & Johnson baby powder lawsuit alleging the company's talcum powder product led to ovarian cancer diagnoses

What happened to the deputy following Roger Fortson's shooting?

According to the sheriff's office, the deputy in question was placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard in such cases, pending the results of an investigation. The deputy has not been identified to the public.

What has the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said about Roger Fortson's shooting?

On Tuesday, Sheriff Eric Aden released a statement about the shooting. He said all members of his agency "are saddened about the fatal officer-involved shooting over the weekend."

Aden then reiterated points made in the previous release from his agency, noting that the deputy in question was placed on administrative leave and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.

Aden also noted that the State Attorney's Office also will conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.

"At this time, we humbly ask for our community’s patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event," said Aden.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it is highly unlikely the agency will have any further comment until the investigation is complete.

What has Roger Fortson's family said about the shooting?

In a Thursday press conference with Crump, the Fortson family voiced their heartbreak over the death of Roger. His mother, Chantimekki Fortson, sobbed as Crump spoke, saying "My baby was shot up."

His mother said the girlfriend had called her afterwards and she had traveled from Atlanta to see him. She said Sheriff's Office investigators never told her that her son had died, only that his shooting was "under investigation."

In the presser, she called Roger Fortson the backbone of her family who had enlisted in the military after graduating high school to work toward his dream of buying her a home. She added he was "living his dream" and was well respected by his military superiors and colleagues.

Contributing reporting: Tom McLaughlin , Pensacola News Journal

Experts say gun alone doesn't justify deadly force in fatal shooting of Florida airman

A Black Air Force senior airman was killed by a Florida sheriff's deputy.

On the afternoon of May 3, Roger Fortson opened the door of his Florida apartment with a gun in his hand and was immediately shot six times by a sheriff’s deputy responding to a complaint about an argument.

Fortson's supporters point to the deputy's rapid decision to open fire and his mere presence at the apartment — where the Air Force senior airman was apparently alone and FaceTiming with his girlfriend — as proof that it was a blatantly unjustified killing and the latest tragedy involving a Black American being shot at home by law enforcement. Authorities, meanwhile, have seized on Fortson holding a gun when he answered the door to cast the shooting as a clear-cut case of self-defense for a deputy confronted with a split-second, life-or-death decision.

Investigators will consider these factors when deciding whether to charge the deputy in a case that also reflects the realities officers face every day in a country where millions of people carry guns, including in Florida, one of the largest gun ownership states.

Policing experts say Fortson simply holding a gun when he opened the door wasn't enough justification to use deadly force, but investigators will also have to consider what information the deputy knew when he responded and whether Fortson showed any behavioral indication that he posed a threat. They also say the proliferation of legal and illegal firearms is forcing officers throughout the country to have to decide faster than ever what constitutes a deadly threat.

“The speed of the shooting is pretty intense. It’s happening very, very fast,” Ian Adams, an assistant professor who studies criminology at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer, said after watching the deputy's body camera video of Fortson's shooting.

“The presence of a gun enhances the risk. But mere presence is not at all justification for using deadly force,” Adams said.

The redacted video released Thursday by the Okaloosa County sheriff in response to allegations raised by attorneys for Fortson's family shows the deputy speaking to a woman outside the Fort Walton Beach apartment complex who described someone hearing an argument.

The deputy, whose name and race haven't been released, bangs on Fortson’s door, pauses, then knocks again, yelling that he’s from the sheriff’s office. Fortson eventually answers the door while holding what appears to be a gun by his side pointed at the ground. Within a few seconds, the deputy shoots Fortson six times, only then yelling for him to drop his weapon.

Sheriff Eric Aden said the deputy acted in self-defense, and he rejected assertions that the deputy was at the wrong apartment. Ben Crump, an attorney for Fortson’s family, said they remain adamant that the deputy went to the wrong unit because Fortson had been home alone and on a Facetime call with his girlfriend.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Adams said beyond the body camera footage there has to be some behavioral indication that a person intends to cause deadly harm with their gun.

“We also live in a nation with more guns than people. If the mere presence of a gun were the standard for reasonable use of deadly force, we would be awash with police shootings,” he said.

The increase in gun ownership has changed policing in ways, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on critical issues in policing.

“This is a tragedy on so many levels, for everyone — for the family and for the officer. Guns accelerate decision-making and that’s the challenge here,” he said.

In a statement Friday, Crump focused on the deputy's quick use of deadly force, and the lack of a verbal command for Fortson to drop his weapon until after the deputy shot him.

But experts say officers aren't required to issue commands or warnings whenever they use deadly force. David Klinger, a criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who is also a former police officer, said the standard is to give a warning when it’s feasible.

“But if pausing to give a warning or a verbal command is going to increase the risk of a deadly threat, then it isn’t feasible,” he said.

Scott Lacey, a former Air Force Special Operations Command officer who served in the same squadron as Fortson, said he believes Fortson’s shooting was unjustified.

“When he just opens the door, sees him with a gun and unloads six rounds on the senior airman, to me that just screams unjust right away,” said Lacey, who spent time as an Arizona state trooper after leaving the military. “The airman didn’t raise his gun and showed no kind of hostile intent.”

Lacey responded to a Facebook post from Air Force leaders that called for people on base to support Fortson’s family while maintaining professionalism. Lacey called the shooting unjustified and urged the commander to instead, “Take a stand and do something," adding that he'd feel unsafe with the sheriff's department at his doorstep.

It's not the first time the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has come under scrutiny for its use of force.

LaTanya Griffin filed a federal lawsuit against the department in August alleging that deputies used a battering ram to enter her home while serving a search warrant in 2019. Griffin, who had been asleep naked, was ordered at gunpoint to walk outside and remain nude in front of officers and the public, she said. She was never arrested or charged with a crime.

In court papers, lawyers for the sheriff’s office said the deputies’ actions were consistent with “established, reasonable, and generally accepted police procedure.” The litigation is ongoing.

“I think the Department of Justice needs to take a look at what’s happening with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office,” said Kevin Anderson, a lawyer for Griffin.

In another incident six months ago, an Okaloosa County deputy reacted to the sound of a falling acorn hitting his patrol vehicle by firing multiple rounds at the vehicle, where a handcuffed Black man sat inside.

After hearing the deputy yell “shots fired” and “I'm hit," his supervisor also fired at the vehicle. The man inside survived the barrage rattled but unscathed.

Internal investigators found that the supervisor's actions were “objectively reasonable” because she was acting to protect the other deputy in what she believed was an “imminent and immediate danger of death.” But the report found that the deputy who initially screamed “shots fired” hadn't acted reasonably in firing his gun. He resigned before the investigation was completed.

In her interviews with investigators, the supervisor mentioned that deputies had been through a lot in recent weeks, including the killing of a deputy who was responding to a domestic violence call and the involvement of another in an on-duty shooting.

The shooting of Fortson came just days after four members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force were killed while serving a warrant in North Carolina. Some officer groups have suggested such killings could affect how officers perceive threats.

“I don’t think the presence of previous shootings is ever going to be justification," Adams said. “There is no world where officers don’t encounter a firearm risk. Officers swim in risk. But risk alone is not cause for using force, let alone deadly force.”

Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

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Bodycam footage shows deputy shot airman seconds after opening door

Body camera footage released by the Okaloosa County Sherriff’s Office Thursday shows a deputy knocked several times on an apartment door and announced himself as law enforcement before fatally shooting a Black airman seconds after he opened the door.

The footage shows Senior Airman Roger Fortson, who appears to be holding a firearm at his side pointed toward the floor, open the door to unit 1401 as the deputy tells Fortson to “step back.”

Lawyer: Deputy who fatally shot Florida airman had wrong apartment

Roger fortson was alone in his apartment friday when a sheriff's deputy burst in and fatally shot him, an attorney for fortson's family claims..

Immediately, the deputy opens fire on Fortson, who appears to lift his other arm across his body as he twists away and falls to the floor, before yelling twice for Fortson to “drop the gun.”

“It’s over there,” Fortson responds from the floor.

“Drop the gun,” the deputy yells a third time.

Air Force IDs airman fatally shot by Florida sheriff’s officer

Senior airman roger fortson was shot and killed by an okaloosa sheriff's deputy at his off-base residence following a disturbance call may 3, 2024..

“I don’t have it,” Fortson responds.

The four-and-a-half-minute video , which stops less than 20 seconds after the deputy tells Fortson not to move and calls for medical assistance, does not show the deputy bust through the door, a claim made by Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney hired by Fortson’s family as they seek answers into why Fortson, 23, was fatally shot six times by the deputy at his apartment complex May 3.

Crump said Wednesday that deputies burst into the wrong apartment while Fortson, an AC-130J gunner assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, talked over FaceTime with his girlfriend, who he said witnessed the incident.

In a press conference Thursday, Crump and Fortson’s mother, Chantemekki Fortson, sought to clear his name, saying he was not the reason deputies were called for an alleged disturbance that drew the deputy to the complex. Crump said he was protecting his home with his legally-owned gun. Fortson, who was from Atlanta, respected authorities and sought to provide for his family, including buying his mother a Lexus, Fortson’s mother and Crump said. His mother said he had been injured in a deployment to Kuwait.

“They shot a good guy. They killed a good guy,” Crump said. “They took from this Air Force a good guy.”

The sheriff’s office said May 3 they were called for a disturbance at 319 Racetrack Road NW in Fort Walton Beach and that the deputy, who is not identified in the video, reacted in self-defense after finding Fortson with a gun and after identifying himself as law enforcement.

Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden met with Fortson’s family Thursday, showing them the video before sharing it during a brief press conference, after which he declined to take questions.

“I want to assure you that we’re not hiding, covering up or taking action that would result in a rush to judgment of Mr. Fortson or our deputy,” Aden said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting an investigation into the incident, which is being treated as a criminal investigation, Aden said.

The state agency declined to answer questions Thursday.

Aden maintained that the deputy, who is on administrative leave during that investigation, did not have the wrong apartment.

However, in a statement released by Crump’s office Thursday evening , Fortson’s family said they remain “adamant” that the deputy arrived at the wrong door and that the airman had been alone inside the apartment, where he’d been talking with his girlfriend on FaceTime. And while Fortson’s girlfriend initially thought the door was forced open, she stands by her account, the family said.

Before the deputy arrived at Fortson’s door, he met an unidentified woman in the apartment complex’s parking lot to direct him to Fortson’s fourth-floor apartment.

“So are they fighting or something?,” he asked.

The woman told him a girl, who appears to have alerted the complex about the disturbance, said it “happens frequently” and “this time it sounded like it was getting out of hand.” Two weeks earlier, the woman, whose identity is blurred, told the deputy as she walked him toward an elevator, that she’d walked by the apartment when she heard yelling followed by what sounded like a slap “but [she] wasn’t sure where it came from.”

“I didn’t want to call the police, and like, you know,” the woman told the deputy.

“What room is it?,” he asked.

“1401,” she said.

“1401, OK,” the deputy responded, asking the woman to wait and direct another responding deputy before boarding the elevator.

A still from body camera footage captured by an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy shows a deputy pointing his firearm at Senior Airman Roger Fortson, who is holding a handgun, before fatally shooting him at a Florida apartment complex May 3. (Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office)

Additional video released

While the bodycam footage provided the Fortson family with “some answers,” they said in Thursday’s statement, it “raised even more troubling questions,” including why the deputy waited to tell Fortson to drop his gun until after he’d shot him, and whether the deputy was trained to give verbal warnings.

“Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?” the family asked.

Along with the statement, the family released video from Fortson’s FaceTime call with his girlfriend . The four-minute video begins after Fortson was shot and depicts the chaos of the moment, though no one appears on camera.

As Fortson moans, saying he can’t breathe, the deputy yells at him: “Do not move. Stop moving. Stop moving.” With sirens in the background, nearly 20 seconds pass before the deputy says to him: “Hang on, man. We’ve got EMS coming for you. Don’t move.”

Individuals who appear to be first responders, who sound as if they search the apartment for others, are then heard arriving on the video. Two minutes later, someone says Fortson was shot three times in the arm and three times in the chest.

Crump did not respond to an interview request from Air Force Times.

1st Special Operations Wing Commander Col. Patrick Dierig posted on Facebook Thursday evening that the Air Force is supporting Fortson’s family and providing resources to his squadron and others. Fortson received the Air Medal with a ‘C’ device, denoting service or achievement performed under combat, for his 2023 deployment, the service said. He arrived at the base in 2020, where he’d also been assigned to the the 73d Special Operations Squadron.

A service in Fortson’s honor will be planned at a later date, Dierig added.

“Fortson was a proven combat veteran and an incredible teammate,” Dierig said. “His loss is felt throughout the 4th Special Operations Squadron, the 73d Special Operations Squadron, and the entirety of our wing. We will honor his service at a date to be determined by his family and his squadron.”

Courtney Mabeus-Brown is the senior reporter at Air Force Times. She is an award-winning journalist who previously covered the military for Navy Times and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., where she first set foot on an aircraft carrier. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and more.

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What We Know About Roger Fortson’s Death—As Police Dispute Claim They Entered Wrong Apartment

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Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Arden on Thursday afternoon called allegations that Roger Fortston, a 23-year-old Black Air Force servicemember, was killed after a deputy entered the wrong apartment “inaccurate,” while releasing body-worn camera footage that appears to counteract claims from civil rights attorney and Fortson family lawyer Ben Crump about the shooting, as questions linger about the deputy’s actions.

Roger Fortson was alone in his apartment when a Florida sheriff’s deputy responded to a ... [+] “disturbance,” his family’s attorney said, citing a witness he was speaking to on Facetime.

An Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave over the weekend after a fatal shooting at an apartment complex in Fort Walton Beach, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday, while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office conduct reviews of the shooting.

The office said the deputy, who has not been named, was investigating a “disturbance in progress when he encountered an armed man,” who was later identified by the U.S. Air Force as Fortson, an airman stationed at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle.

Deputies were responding to a disturbance between a “male and a female,” which was called in by the apartment complex’s leasing office, the Military Times reported, citing a recording of dispatchers.

However, Crump alleges law enforcement entered the wrong apartment and Fortson was alone at home at the time of the shooting, citing Fortson’s girlfriend, who he says was speaking with Fortson on Facetime when the shooting happened.

In the footage released Thursday afternoon, the deputy arrives at the apartment he was told to go to—but it is still unclear if Fortson was the person a 911 caller heard fighting.

What Happened After Police Arrived At The Apartment?

According to Crump, a witness said Fortson heard a “very aggressive knock” on the door and got no response when asking “who is it?,” and later retrieved his gun—which Crump said was legally owned. Fortson also tried to look through his front door’s peephole, but “it was as if somebody was covering up the peephole so he couldn’t see out of it,” Crump said at a press conference on Thursday. In the footage, the deputy can be seen knocking on the door, before stepping away where he could not be seen from the door’s peephole..The deputy can be heard saying “Sheriff’s Office open the door” twice, and Fortson can be heard saying something inaudible—that the Sheriff’s Office is claiming was him saying “police”—before opening the door to the deputy. The deputy says “step back” before drawing his weapon and firing at Fortson, who appears to have his weapon at his side and not drawn on the officer. Crump’s office, citing the witness, alleged the deputy “burst through the door” and shot Fortson six times in the chest and arm after they saw the airman was armed—this was disputed by the Sheriff’s Office, whose video showed Fortson answered the door. Crump said Fortson’s girlfriend heard three gunshots, then heard the deputy say “drop your weapon” before another round of shots. The video shows the officer fire five rounds at once before saying “drop the gun,” to which Fortson replies “I don’t have it” and “it’s over there,” before cutting out after the deputy calls EMS—it’s unclear if a sixth shot was fired.

In an original press release Friday, the Sheriff’s Office said the deputy “reacted in self defense” and “identified himself as law enforcement”—but the sheriff’s updated statement on Tuesday did not repeat those claims. At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Arden said the deputy did announce himself and that Crump’s assessment was “inaccurate.” “We are aware of a press release and other comments that falsely state our deputy entered the wrong apartment and imply that they burst through the door into Mr. Fortson’s residence,” Arden said. “What we do know at this time is that the deputy did announce himself—not once, but twice. Mr. Fortson’s comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at the door, and he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand. The deputy knocked at the correct door, he did not cover the peephole or otherwise obscure its view in any way.” However, it is difficult to hear exactly what Forston said, and the deputy did stand away from the door so that the person inside the apartment could not see who knocked. Arden said that the Fortson family “have my word—if this shooting is found to be unjustified, their son’s name will be fully vindicated, and justice will be served.” Arden did not answer any questions from the media.

Crucial Quote

“The narrative released by law enforcement, which falsely suggests that Roger posed a threat, is deeply troubling and inconsistent with the details: Roger was home alone, causing no disturbance, when his life was tragically cut short by law enforcement,” Crump said in a statement posted on social media.

Surprising Fact

Crump also said other deputies were knocking on other doors in the complex, adding that “they had to know that it was questionable if this was the apartment or not.” That was not seen in the video footage released by the Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.

Key Background

According to Crump, Fortson “enlisted in the military after graduating from high school with honors and had no criminal record. By all accounts, he was a stellar member of the Air Force and loved by his community.” He was originally from the Atlanta area, and graduated from McNair High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, local station 11Alive reported. Fortson, a senior airman at the time of his death, entered active duty in November 2019 was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron based out of Hurlburt Field. The unit flies Block 30 AC-130J Ghostrider gunships and is currently supporting Operation Inherent Resolve—the Pentagon’s operation to support regional allies after the defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Fortson’s mother, Meka Fortson, appeared alongside Crump, clutching a framed photo of her son in his uniform, as well as other members of his family. Crump and Fortson’s mother confirmed that he was also injured while serving a tour of duty in Kuwait.

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UK air force chief says Australia should release video of China jet flare confrontation

Britain's visiting air force chief has encouraged Australia to release any images it collects of dangerous activity by the Chinese military to help call out Beijing's unacceptable behaviour in the region.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton is in Canberra for talks with international counterparts, just days after a Chinese jet fired flares towards an Australian Navy helicopter while it was operating in international waters off South Korea.

The Seahawk pilot had launched from HMAS Hobart on Saturday and was forced to take urgent evasive action during the Yellow Sea incident, which has since prompted diplomatic and military protests from Australia. 

In an interview with the ABC, the Chief of the Air Staff said the British military regularly publicises evidence of similar encounters with Russian warplanes to highlight unacceptable conduct.

"The key lesson is around communication, being super clear about calling out poor behaviour, demonstrating that with the use of video footage and really signalling very clearly to Russia and China and to their air forces what a professional intercept looks like," Sir Richard said.

He argued highlighting dangerous intercepts can demonstrate "why it's dangerous to conduct them in that unprofessional way and how that can lead to miscalculation and ultimately to accidents which I think would be an awful outcome through sheer incompetence and lack of professionalism".

Asked if Australia should follow the lead of the United Kingdom and United States in releasing more detailed information and images of confrontations, he said doing so could help counter "misinformation" spread by Russia and China following events.

"Quite often it makes sense for us to show and release the imagery so we can prove what happened in practice and debunk some of the misinformation that gets pushed out by Russia and China," he said.

"We've certainly seen in the Black Sea where we've been able to release footage, where people can see what's happened that that's helped understanding and helped make clear to our adversaries that what they're doing is unacceptable and why it's dangerous."

Privately, senior figures from Australia's closest military partners have long questioned the level of secrecy of defence officials in Canberra, as well as the high level of control exerted by political leaders over information that is released publicly.

China poaching western military veterans

In a wide-ranging interview, Britain's air force chief also warned China continued to entice veterans from western militaries with large amounts of money to provide defence training and secrets.

Two years ago, the UK introduced new penalties to stop former Royal Air Force pilots from becoming paid instructors for the People's Liberation Army. 

Sir Richard said, despite counter efforts by nations such as Australia, the threat remains.

"We know that China is offering large amounts of money to people to go and train PLA forces and in doing so we are enhancing, those people who go are enhancing China's capability," he told the ABC.

"Despite the legal restrictions we've put in place, despite the investigations into individuals, large sums of money continue to attract certain types of people.

"We will continue to need to be vigilant and continue to need to fight against these people going out there and frankly leaking secrets to our adversaries."

On Wednesday, the chief of the Royal Australian Air Force delivered a blunt assessment of the country's readiness for air combat, warning his service must strengthen its workforce.

Opening the international air and space conference in Canberra, Air Marshal Robert Chipman conceded military leaders had "missed the indicators and warnings of a deteriorating strategic environment" and more needed to be done despite recent large investments.

"We are still at risk of capability stagflation, low preparedness, workforce hollowness and ongoing budget pressure. Our first challenge is to strengthen our workforce," he said.

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