Unfortunately an airman from my old squadron, the 4th Special Operations Squadron, was murdered by a sheriff's deputy from the Okaloosa Sheriff's Department (former employer of the infamous Anti-Acorn Task Force). The cop was called there by people who reported hearing a man and woman yelling and gave the cop this young kid's apartment number. The body camera footage shows the cop knocked on the door without announcing he was police or any announcement at all, then hid from the peephole so he could not be seen. When the door did not open (and no sane person would answer such a knock), the deputy then knocked on it again, announced he was a sheriff, and the airman answered the door holding a gun at his side and not pointed at anybody. The cop then shot him several times and killed him. Then, of course and as usual, his department lied about it in the media, claimed he didn't mask his presence, and stated that he acted in self defense.
My former peers in uniform over at a popular forum have finally admitted the reality of the police state we live in although with the usual caveats and justifications ("I've never been LEO so what do I know about when it's wrong to shoot people who aren't a threat" and "it's okay to knock and then hide so the person inside doesn't know who is knocking because you might get shot through the door" and such). And, of course, the idiotic assumption that cops make life and death decisions on a daily basis like some movie might depict. And the wrote-narrative that is unthinkingly parroted like watching MSM news where all the talking heads say the same memorized and undigested bits, "it's because they didn't have enough training (ie money)." Still, at least the digital clowns can pronounce this incident correctly because it happened to someone they can relate to. Normally they'd ignore the facts and dig up some dirt on the kid "did you see his third grade teacher wrote in his report card that he mouthed off in class??!!" So, this is a nice improvement to the usual authoritarian tyranny that infests that propaganda messageboard. More than a decade ago I was there labeled a nutter for explaining the reality of our police state and the need for Americans to protect themselves from it. But given the quick progress of those who frequent that forum, I'm sure by the time we have trains and camps they'll finally get it.
Here is the reality. Cops can murder any American they want for any reason and there will be no justice despite some rare counterexamples that typically involve political backlash surrounding race. Most years, cops aren't in the top ten most dangerous jobs in America, yet they are presumed to be simply making a mistake even when their actions are criminal because people are taught to ignore the reality they experience everyday, which doesn't include gunfights, and to somehow posit that cops are fighting for their very lives every single day and are just lucky to get home where they can lay down their body armor, pepper spray, batons and guns. But that is not reality and the reality is that when there is an actual threat to the cop, they often refuse to intervene. See the Parkland cop. See the Uvalde cowards. And see the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that cops have no duty to protect those in danger. Which is why many don't actually run toward danger in many cases, and instead prey on innocent Americans they can spin into stories of heroism with the stroke of a pen about "what happened." Because the reality is most cops are insecure pussies who either bully the innocent while safe behind their badge, or turn a blind eye to the abuse they see from their peers. And the risk to cops doesn't end when they get caught on camera murdering innocent Americans. The most they risk is getting fired. They will not be prosecuted criminally. And thanks to "qualified immunity," the courts have given them a pass against civil suit as well. Understand that. Because of qualified immunity, a court can find that a cop did in fact violate the Constitution and yet they will still rule in favor of the cop (or any other government agent). Even after expressly finding that the government agent broke the law.
Cops are untouchable in all reality. Being fired is not a deterrent to insecure psychopaths with a gun.
If they want to kill you, they will kill you. And they will get away with it, see the Daniel Shaver murder for example; a cold-blooded killing of yet another innocent man after some idiot citizen called the cops, just as in this case, to report something perfectly legal. Or see the old man Craig Robertson recently murdered. Or watch the Oscar Grant murder. Or the Kelly Thomas murder. There are far too many examples of police criminality, theft, and murder that goes without meaningful punishment to relate here. Far too many. Go ahead and say it, "a few bad apples" and then stop reading this post because you're far too stupid to be reading my blog.
As for the rest, what can you, the average citizen, do? First, hope the government doesn't employ this to punish you, as they recently did when they murdered a man in Arkansas for selling weapons, or as "law enforcement" has been weaponized against January 6th protestors. Such a machinery of tyranny is irresistible to the tyrants who wield it. Second, hope your enemies don't punish you by calling in your address to get a SWAT response, as is common. You see, cops don't require any evidence or common sense, they're eager to bust in your door and they will do so presuming you are a threat to them. Third, NEVER NEVER NEVER answer the door unless you know who is on the other side (you should have cameras). If the person on the other side is a cop, you make them produce a warrant before you open the door. They can call you if they just want to talk. Fourth, your home is your castle, so you better build it like one. That means a door you don't buy at Home Depot. Take it seriously. I would recommend the same for your vehicle. Government agents are not persuaded by correct recitation of the law and the Constitution because while they have to mouth those words, they have zero concern or reverence for our supreme law and "all that jazz." So they will escalate if you don't let them in (thanks to "exigent circumstances" court rulings and the unaccountability that makes lying routine by law enforcement--there will be exigent circumstances because they will simply make them up). So your door better hold.
And lastly, to my peers who might mistakenly (and immorally) believe they are somehow protected from the treatment the unwashed masses get by virtue of their own uniform and government job, realize that they don't care. They'll kill your wife and your baby just to make you bow down or to punish you for exercising your constitutional rights, just as they did to former Green Beret Randy Weaver. You can delude yourself into thinking you're on "their" side of the fascist thin blue line, but you're not.
For the rest of us, realize that our government very rarely hires those with the integrity and the intellect to appreciate our Constitution, or the courage to make good on their oaths. So plan accordingly.
Thoughts and prayers to the family of Airman Roger Fortson. RIP Ghostrider. I'm sorry that your leadership, your peers, the Okaloosa Sheriff's Department and your nation failed you. It's a tragedy.
I was waiting for this fascist ginger limp noodle to weigh in and he didn't disappoint. The fact that the entire thing is captured on video is not enough, you see, because we need to wait for the cop to lie about things not seen on video (which will still not justify the murder). Don't think for a second that M2 gives one shit about "due process" and waiting for an investigation when the body camera footage doesn't clearly show a crime by law enforcement though. It's only when it's one of King George's men that he asks people to not form obvious and irrefutable conclusions based on video evidence and to instead wait for the police to investigate themselves. He gives no such due process deference to ordinary citizens routinely smeared and victimized by cops. M2 likes to delude himself into thinking he's a conservative, but he's nothing more than a fascist and he's the key reason that forum is a propaganda shit hole for tyranny. You can expect any voices that disagree with him beyond a cowering whimper to find themselves censored because he's such a conservative patriot.