Florida deputy's killing of Black airman renews debate on police killings and race

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Whatever the race of this deputy, whether he’s Black, white, Hispanic, whatever — in this instance where this deputy saw a Black person with a weapon and immediately used deadly force, instead of calmly and reflectively assessing the situation, this is it.” Williams' NAACP chapter is drafting state legislation it wants to name after Fortson. “If you’re a white male officer in the United States Air Force, you don’t wake up every day thinking about race,” Wright said. “We have Black airmen and officers that wake up every day and they go into rooms and they’re the only Black person.” He said commanders need to understand the toll this takes. “I don’t know that commanders could say anything to airmen that would necessarily be helpful about, 'if the police knock on your door, do this, don’t do that,’ ” Wright said.