The family of a U.S. airman who was fatally shot by a Florida sheriff’s deputy inside his own home in 2024 filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday over his killing.
The complaint filed in a Pensacola courthouse alleges that Deputy Eddie Duran used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot Senior Airman Roger Fortson just seconds after the Black 23-year-old opened his apartment door on May 3, 2024. Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration.
Fortson’s family is represented by Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who has been involved in a number of cases involving law enforcement killings of Black people, including those of Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and George Floyd.
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