(STONECREST, Ga.) – Hundreds of Air Force members dressed in blue joined Roger Fortson’s family, friends and others at a suburban Atlanta megachurch on Friday to pay their final respects to the senior black airman who was shot and killed in his Florida home. earlier this month by a deputy sheriff.
People lined up well before the start of the service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest to walk past the open casket and say goodbye to Fortson, who was shot six times by a deputy responding to a May 3 call about a possible domestic problem. violent situation at the Fortson apartment complex in the Florida Panhandle. He was 23 years old.
Fortson’s face and upper body were visible in his Air Force uniform, with an American flag hanging from the lower half of the casket. After viewing the body, many mourners stopped to hug each other.
“As you can see from the sea of blue Air Force before me, I am not alone in my admiration for Senior Airman Fortson,” Col. Patrick Dierig told mourners.
“We would like to take credit for making him big, but the truth is he was big before he came to us,” said Dierig, who commands the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Air Force Base, Fla., where Fortson was stationed. parked.
Fortson grew up in the Atlanta area before joining the Air Force. He was a senior airman who served in combat zones overseas and was stationed in Hurlburt when the deputy killed him.
The Rev. Jamal Bryant began his eulogy with a story about how civil rights icon Medgar Evers joined the Army during World War II even though he and other Black American service members were fighting for freedoms abroad that they did not enjoy at home.
The 1963 Evers murdera Mississippi NAACP leader who was shot to death by a white supremacist, “showed all of America that you can wear a uniform and the uniform will not protect you, that sadly sometimes the skin you wear is more of a magnet to the opposition than the uniform you wear,” Bryant said. “Because in America, before people see you as a veteran, as a United States Air Force airman, they will see you as a black man.”
Bryant also called for justice in Fortson’s murder.
“We have to call it what it is: It was a murder,” Bryant said. “He died of cold murder. And someone has to be held responsible. Roger was better to America than America was to Roger.”
The Fortson family’s attorney, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, gave a rousing speech, telling those in attendance, “We will remember him for the American patriot he was.”
“He was the best in East Atlanta. … He was the best in the state of Georgia. He was the best in America. He was one of the best this world had to offer,” Crump said.
In a video recorded during the ceremony, Rev. Al Sharpton also highlighted Fortson’s military service and asked that his death not go unpunished.
“He, as a young black man, stood up, signed up to fight for this country. The question now is: will the country stand up and fight for it? … That’s the question and that’s what we intend to get an answer to,” Sharpton said.
The funeral took place the day after Fortson’s mother promised to get justice for your son. At a press conference held by the family and Crump, Meka Fortson spoke passionately about how her son always followed a positive path and never got into trouble or showed signs of violence.
She also left a message for Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden: “You will bring me justice whether you like it or not, Sheriff Aden,” she said.
The day he was killed, Fortson opened the door holding a gun pointed at the floor, according to footage from the deputy’s body camera. The deputy shouted, “Stand back!” and then shot Fortson six times. Only then did he shout: “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” The deputy then radioed paramedics.
Fortson and Crump’s family argue that the shooting was completely unjustified and that the deputy went to the wrong apartment while responding to a call about a possible domestic disturbance underway at the apartment complex. Fortson was home alone talking to his girlfriend on FaceTime when she grabbed his gun because she heard someone outside her unit, Crump said.
The deputy, whose name was not released, shot Fortson moments later the airman responding to the deputy’s knock and opening your door. Sheriff’s officials say the deputy acted in self-defense.
Two weeks after the shooting, the sheriff has not yet released an incident report, any 911 records or the identity of the officer, despite requests for information under Florida’s open records law.
The case is among many across the country in which black people were shot in their homes by law enforcement personnel.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating and the deputy has been placed on administrative leave.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
