Jennifer and Lee

INTRODUCTION:

The day we learned about the execution of SrA Roger Fortson by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was the day that changed us for life. It hit us so hard given our own terrifying experiences with rogue police officers, the erasure of second amendment rights, and the fact Roger could have been someone we worked beside and cared about. The ACLU in San Diego found prior to George Floyd’s murder in 2020 that data show there are disparities in police practices among communities of color and people with disabilities. We were home in quarantine like everyone else when the news broke about George Floyd. This too hit us in the heart like a dagger. We felt deep wounds as we watched things unfold. The quarantine allowed us the time to immerse ourselves in the issues and become more familiar with the practices of U.S. police officers.

It wasn’t hard to convince us we have serious problems with police practices in this country given our own negative experiences and run-ins with police officers due to untreated post traumatic stress. We observed what appeared to be unregulated power, police departments are part of the political machine, and we have no say in how we are ruled. We were vocal about our feelings about what happened to Roger Fortson on social media and we’re glad we were because we learned things we never would have learned had we not said something. We did some research, we pulled the information together in an organized format, and we are presenting you with what we learned in an effort to show you how the media should in fact handle these kinds of human rights issues. We thought we were safe if we hid out in our home, turns out we were wrong.

In this analysis, we will present you with four different problematic officer involved incidents in Okaloosa County involving innocent people who were home, were never charged with a crime, and were targeted by the Sheriff’s Office. We also know that three of the four citizens were black; we are unaware of the first female victim’s race and couldn’t find any identifying information.

POLICE ON TRIAL (FRONTLINE):

We do a lot of research as evidenced by our website and have had the opportunity to observe how the media manipulates and controls the narratives. This is why we will incorporate their shady practices into our commentary of human rights issues here in the United States. Our main and most problematic observation is that the media sides with the “authorities” no questions asked. But it begs the question: who’s more important? The police, the military, or our citizens. We recommend Frontline PBS because they do the deep dives on the social and political issues.

FIRST INCIDENT (2019):

We learned about the first incident with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in an Associated Press article about the officer involved shooting of SrA Roger Fortson. We googled LaTanya Griffin to learn more but couldn’t find any other information about her, the lawsuit, or the incident. We wanted to take a minute to humanize and acknowledge her with maybe a picture if available in other media articles. The quote below reveals how the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office treated LaTanya Griffin in the execution of a search warrant; she filed a federal lawsuit against them but the specific grievances are not clear in this article. For example, is this a civil rights case or police brutality case? But it should be noted that the media was very clear about the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office perspective. The police and media clearly gaslight citizens without a second thought. She was never arrested or charged with a crime. But even if she was, she still didn’t deserve to be treated so inhumanely by the police department and the media.

(this is a perfect example of how you find little nuggets in media articles to help pull the big picture together… they rarely pull the big picture together nor do they cover most incidents)

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.

AP: Experts say gun alone doesn’t justify deadly force in fatal shooting of Florida airman

As a child abuse and rape survivor, I would be mortified if this is how any police department treated me given a post traumatic stress diagnosis that evolved into complex trauma as a result of a lifetime of dehumanization and abuse. It would lead to emotional dysregulation and could even lead to police brutality, harm to get me under control, or death. This would make me feel extremely vulnerable and would negatively impact my mental health for life. I would want to die in the moment via suicide by cop given my history of struggling with suicidal ideation. It would be over for me. As a result of zero justice in life, I struggle with authorities as it is.

As for any arrest or being charged with a crime, whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

My husband was falsely accused and arrested for “domestic violence” when in fact his ex-wife threatened to keep his two children from him and it resulted in emotional dysregulation. She called the local police and created an “abuser” narrative; I guess I was the “victim.” In a separate incident, after I called emergency services for help with my husband, also a veteran with untreated PTSD, I was falsely accused of “furnishing a home for minors to consume” by a crooked cop with a shady past and an officer involved shooting of a woman with mental illness. The felony charges were dropped for both of us but the local media reported we were charged and then never followed up on the outcome, despite a phone call from us. An arrest and charges by corrupt police officers in a small town negatively impacted our quality of life and support systems. We isolated in our home in fear of our lives. We hid our post traumatic stress disorder to protect ourselves from the police. And we felt like we were in danger given Maine’s past with the police killing people with mental health issues. A Maine attorney general has never found one officer at fault in a shooting.

The panel’s findings have been consistent since its inception in 2019: Mainers killed by police are typically male, have criminal records, access to guns and are in the midst of mental health crisis that is often exacerbated by drugs or alcohol.

Portland Press Herald: The root causes of police shootings in Maine are familiar. ‘Only the names change.’

And here’s where the dehumanization process begins…

If you have been arrested or charged with a crime despite charges being dropped or you’re found not guilty, it will most likely end up in a police blotter or in the media depending on the crime and interest in the story; your name is now tarnished. The media is complicit in the dehumanization of citizens including us. We were labeled, outcast from the small community we lived in, and left to isolate on our own while we fell into a death spiral because no one cared about our disabilities or us given our “criminal status.” Both of us have post traumatic stress, Lee has brain injuries, and I have chronic lead poisoning. All the media cares about is the sensationalism to make money and generate clicks. They don’t appear to care about the individual, any false accusations, how the police may have abused their power, or any follow up to the actual charges in the court system. They don’t care about how this impacts your future, your reputation, or your ability to work. A request to change custody lead to the ex-wife creating and using the charges against us to justify that we were “criminals” and that the children should not be allowed in our home because we are “crazy” and might put them in danger.

Please note that LaTanya Griffin was never arrested or charged with a crime but she was treated worse than we could ever imagine. We have empathy and understanding for LaTanya if she is traumatized by this horrific event perpetrated by the authorities.

SECOND INCIDENT (DEC. 2020):

After talking about our feelings about the officer involved shooting of Roger Fortson on social media, we were contacted by an active duty military member who had a similar story to share.

He was trying to get to sleep but he was in pain and sick with Covid. It was between Christmas 2020 and the new year and he was off from work.  He was an Active Duty military member living in the Navarre Beach and Fort Walton Beach / Hurlburt Field area in Florida. These areas were under the jurisdiction of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.  He was tossing and turning trying to get to sleep, but being sick, and aching, the pain was gnawing at him.  He decided to put some soft jazz on his phone to help him relax and calm his mind with a timer set. He finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m., and at some point awoke momentarily and reached over to turn the music volume down on his iPhone after the timer failed to stop it. Shortly after this, he heard the woop woop of what sounded like a cop car or a countdown to a loud alert broadcast. He thought he cancelled the 9-1-1 alert in time. All of a sudden, a police dispatcher called him back. He began to wonder did the phone glitch and somehow when I was turning down the music, I accidentally called the police with the side button combination pressed by mistake? He was still a sick and disoriented. 

Dispatcher: Is there a problem?
Community Member: No, I must have just hit it by accident. Everything is ok here. I was trying to turn down/off some music playing as I dozed off to sleep.
Dispatcher: Ok, sounds like everything is good on your end, just a simple mistake.
Community Member: I’m sorry to have bothered you. Good night.

He dozed back off and between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m., he heard the doorbell ring and a knock on the door. He was startled and thinking what is going on? He went to the front door and turned the porch light on. He didn’t see anyone outside the door. There were two large 6-8 foot tall (and wide) pillar bushes on both sides of the porch walkway. He stepped outside to investigate and eventually noticed what looked like a female officer hiding and peering from behind one of the bushes nearest to the side closest to the driveway. There were no lights or sirens going. He asked her what she was doing and why she was there? He was instantly alarmed once he realized he was a 6+ foot black man, alone, in the middle of the night in the panhandle of “Lower Alabama”, and he was face-to-face with a petite white woman officer, armed with a gun at an unfathomable hour. He instantly realized a critical fact, thinking this power dynamic was not on his side. His mind was racing and he thought about how he was in the military and had personal firearms in the home for protection. He felt at a disadvantage being a black man alone in this situation. He cooperated fully and offered to let her go inside the home and do whatever she needed to do; she declined. 

After the police officer left… thoughts:

Wow!  Did you think I was holding someone hostage?
Did you think I was beating someone?
Did you think I stole the phone from a victim to hide the actions of what might be taking place?
Why did you send the cops to my house?
What did you think the problem was?
Why the heavy handed approach in THIS area? 
(It’s fairly boring and uneventful here in this nestled area)

He was confused. He lived in this very quiet, nice neighborhood for a couple years. He worked and lived in the area.  He went jogging regularly in the neighborhood so he was very familiar with the area. The area was very safe and crime free. And his exact thoughts were: READ THE ROOM. Did the dispatcher profile him because she assumed he was a black man based on his voice tone?  He felt a bit targeted and he didn’t feel comfortable with the fact that the dispatcher sent a female officer alone (from what could be inferred) to a black man’s house in the middle of the night. 

He called the non-emergency line for the department the next day to file a complaint.  They largely blew him off surrounding any concerns of escalation of the event, and told him the dispatcher didn’t have confirmation that he was telling the truth, and it is their discretion to follow up. On what? What was the problem? They told him he could have been lying and they wanted to confirm. He didn’t like this scenario one bit. So if this lone female officer at his door feels that someone is in danger, she can just show up, make the wrong call, fatal for the member, “in fear of my life / self-defense” script, and there are no witnesses. Then she can go into his home, find any number of guns and plant it on him to justify the shooting. This didn’t feel right.  But this is exactly what could have happened if the officer made a mistake, if the black man made the wrong move, if she felt like she needed to defend herself against a six foot man, or if she decided to go rogue. 

He was sick, having a hard time sleeping because of the pain and Covid, made a simple mistake and accidentally dialed 911 or maybe there was glitch in the phone and the next thing he knows a female police officer is crouching behind a tree near his porch.  This did not feel professional in the least bit. And who sends a lone female police officer to a potentially “dangerous black man’s” house, or even as the lead officer making first contact to the door, if she wasn’t alone? He felt like he was targeted or the victim of a very poorly trained team of so-called professionals. He felt like he got dragged into unnecessary drama. And he feels like he escaped with his life from this sketchy scenario he never wanted any part of to begin with. And in the end, it doesn’t change the fact that he feels like he got profiled for sounding like a black man. 

QUESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY MEMBER FROM US:

What actions did the police officer take in regards to her own weapon?

“I have no idea, if at any point, she unholstered her weapon due to her being shielded behind the very large set of bushes about six feet beyond my door after ringing my doorbell, but retreating to what she deemed a safe, but tactical position, in case she decided to engage me.  As I turned on the porch light and oriented myself, I could not see her movements, outside of her quickly peeking from behind the bush, and thankfully assessing I was not a threat to her.”

What was her demeanor? Attitude? Your observations of her. 

“She seemed even tempered at the time, after she collected herself and approached the door, seeing me illuminated by both my foyer and porch lights, unarmed and posing no threat to her.  She went through her normal script to inform me that someone within the household called 911, and shortly after (possibly) noticing my initial confusion, that quickly became frustration at the dispatcher, seemed willing to hurry through to dismissing me and departing. If she was accompanied, I earnestly (to avoid a third disturbance in the middle of the night) offered proof in the form of a quick walkthrough of the residence, in case she too did not believe me, as the dispatch operator did not; she declined, and shortly departed after remaining in her vehicle, writing a quick report or response, or so I gathered.”

In the moment, how were you feeling inside? Range of emotions.

“In the immediate, I had a fair amount of shock and surprise to get over, especially at that time of night. Until recent events, and this exchange, I truly do not know if I really had processed the gravity of what could have resulted out of that situation. I was trying to be optimistic as possible, even while my frustration was growing. I was too tired to think of being afraid at the thought of what could have happened, but I was careful to direct my displeasure at the caller and not the deputy, so as not to agitate her to do something unfortunate and/or tragic. I knew I wanted to call to inquire about the procedures of sending a deputy out and to file a complaint as soon as possible, while the issue was still fresh. The biggest mental flag was, “WHY?!???”  Why is she here, and why did the dispatcher, with the seemingly reassuring conversation we had, why did she not believe me? Is this normal? I had lived in other areas before, and with these types of smart phones, this has happened before, but the authorities have never showed up. Why was this time different? Why am I awake at this ungodly hour after struggling with this hard to shake illness? Why me?  Nonetheless, I wanted to act from there… leading up to being largely dismissed the next day.”

And quite frankly, we don’t blame this law-abiding military member for feeling slighted given the odd circumstances surrounding the 911 phone call mistake and the subsequent lone female police officer showing up at his front door under the cover of darkness. In the end, this man’s feelings were completely justified given the incidents that have occurred with this particular sheriff’s office since this event. Next, we’ll talk about the Acorn incident where another Okaloosa County Deputy unloaded a clip after an acorn hit the top of his car. The “suspect” was sitting handcuffed and trapped in the backseat of a police car while this police officer swore he had been shot and started shooting at his own police car. His partner, taking his lead, began shooting at the car as well.

THIRD INCIDENT (NOV. 2023):

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Final Investigative Report for Deputy Jesse Hernandez and Sergeant Beth Roberts ultimately determined that Hernandez used unjustified force but Roberts did what she thought was appropriate to protect her partner. Hernandez retired and Roberts is still apparently employed with the Sheriff’s Office. Regardless, Marquis Jackson has every right to sue this police department for dumping 30 rounds of ammunition into a police car with a handcuffed man trapped in the back. He had nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide, and nowhere to run. We would be absolutely traumatized by this event as well and we hope that Marquis Jackson wins the mental anguish lawsuit against Okaloosa County. We cannot imagine how Marquis Jackson felt while trapped in the back of the cop car for a supposed “crime” he was never even charged with. And with most institutions that lack accountability, the mostly unchecked behavior only escalates until someone loses their life. And six months later… the unthinkable happened.

FOURTH INCIDENT (MAY 2024):

ATTORNEY BEN CRUMP’S RESPONSE TO OKALOOSA COUNTY:

TAKE A STAND AND DO SOMETHING:

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.

AP: Experts say gun alone doesn’t justify deadly force in fatal shooting of Florida airman

FIRST MEDIA ARTICLE THAT ACCURATELY DESCRIBES THE SITUATION:

MEDIA REPORTS IMPROVE ONE WEEK LATER:

THE PUBLIC TRUST IS BROKEN:

The Hill: Congressional Black Caucus: Public trust ‘broken’ after police killing of Roger Fortson

Fortson’s death quickly drew comparisons to those of other Black people killed in recent years by police in their homes, in circumstances involving officers arriving at the wrong address or responding to service calls with wanton uses of deadly force.

MaCharie Dunbar, an Air Force retiree who serves on the board of the Black Veterans Project, feels Fortson’s death surfaces an uncomfortable reality faced by Black Americans who serve their country.

“Many of us are just saddened and angered by the continued unnecessary loss of Black lives at the hands of police,” Dunbar said. “And we want to know how many times do police officers have to get it wrong before they do something collectively to get it right?”

The Fortson case also highlighted the dissonance between a Black person’s constitutional right to bear arms and law enforcement officers’ right to defend themselves against a perceived threat.

Associated Press: Who gets to claim self-defense in shootings? Airman’s death sparks debate over race and gun rights

SrA Roger Fortson’s death hit us hard. We watched everything play out real time, we kept up with how the media handled this situation, and we cried… a lot. Our hearts have been broken ever since our own traumatizing experiences with authorities and then what we learned after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in 2020 cemented the pain. We have paid attention to the issues, immersed ourselves in the issues, and then one of our own got shot what looked like execution style as soon as he opened his front door to investigate what was going on. He was shot and killed in front of his beloved dog and his girlfriend who he was FaceTiming with. I didn’t want to watch the video but saw it by accident on Attorney Ben Crump’s social media. It wrecked both of us.

We couldn’t believe what we had witnessed. An innocent man died for nothing, whether there was a domestic disturbance or not… he was not a threat. And as it turns out, they did get the wrong apartment. Roger was minding his own business, talking to his girlfriend, and making plans for the weekend. The leasing office and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office dragged someone unrelated into their drama and now they are dead. The worst part about the body cam video was watching Roger get shot six times in front of his dog and then listening to the police after the fact and how they talked to Roger while he was dying. He was following orders with six bullets in his body. We will never be the same and this incident changed us. We stand with Roger Fortson and his family.

FUNERAL SERVICE FOR SRA ROGER FORTSON:

FACEBOOK COMMENT FROM LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBER:

We included this anonymous comment because we thought it was important. The commenter did not hide their identity but we are going to. We appreciated this person sharing their thoughts with us given they not only grew up in Okaloosa County, Florida but they also served in the Air Force as an adult and observed the same terrifying behavior. Is this how we want our citizens to feel about the police who are supposed to protect and serve them? Lee and I would never move to Okaloosa County, Florida after what we learned. Imagine what we don’t know. We moved to the west coast to escape the gestapo cops on the East Coast. We learned in rural Maine that what we thought and needed in life didn’t matter and the best thing to do to stay safe was to keep your mouth shut. It appears we are not the only people who feel this way.

WHY DO THE POLICE WEAR BODY CAMS?

Given our experiences in the military with leaders who also had unchecked power, we feel that military leadership should also wear body cams. They should be held accountable for not preventing crime, for blowing off criminal reports, and for abusing and retaliating against anyone who reports crime. This would be a great first step in holding them accountable. And if we can’t hold them accountable because of the Feres Doctrine which is similar to Qualified Immunity for the police, then let the victims you will not care for out of their contracts. We should not be forced to serve with people who are not held accountable for human rights violations because their military careers are more important than our lives.

‘POWER’ OFFICIAL TRAILER, NETFLIX (2024):

CONCLUSION:

We worked really hard in life to get where we are. And we realized even if you try to be a perfect law-abiding citizen, the authorities can target you and destroy your life with a lie. I worked hard and sacrificed to get a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. Both Lee and I sacrificed our lives for the Air Force pre 9/11 and post 9/11, including getting stop lossed. After over a decade of service, we felt like we got kicked while we were down by toxic military leadership and by the cops when we returned home from our obligations in the military. Everyone knows by now that a lot of us veterans have Post Traumatic Stress… yet, where’s the support?

We finally got the treatment we deserved and we woke up to what appears to be a nightmare in this country. We see what’s going on and we don’t like it. We feel the authoritative oppression from our old school families, from the military, and from the police. All I wanted was some treatment and to live out my dreams. All Lee wanted was to spend more time with his two sons. Instead, we felt dehumanized and beat down to the point of no return. If we didn’t escape the environments we were trapped in, we were going to die. And after saving our lives, here we are processing our own trauma and learning about what’s going on nationwide and what Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office does to people that haven’t even been charged with a crime.

In our research efforts to learn more about military crime and toxic leadership, we witnessed the escalation of criminal behavior and death on one military base in Texas over the course of five years until it lead to the murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen in 2020. We even paid to send me down to Washington D.C. in 2017 to warn congressional members about what was going on at this base. It fell on deaf ears and when congress made “changes” after Vanessa Guillen went missing and was murdered, they left out the most important part: the escalation of crime and death over the course of decades that’s been buried and how it ultimately lead to a preventable murder. Had we paid attention to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office as well, we would have watched the same escalating unchecked behaviors that lead to the murder of yet another innocent person.