Airman shot dead by police at wrong apartment

DONALD TRUMP dictates his tweets to an aide and delivers precise instructions about the use of punctuation marks such as Oxford commas and exclamation points, a court has heard.

Madeleine Westerhout, who worked as Mr Trump’s personal secretary until 2019, told his New York hush money trial that the ex-president preferred her to note down his thoughts rather than write the social media posts himself.

He would edit them on paper and had very specific requirements about grammar, according to Ms Westerhout.

“My recollection is there are certain

@realDonaldTrump words he liked to capitalise,” she said. “Words like ‘country’. He liked to use exclamation points... he liked to use the Oxford comma.”

Ms Westerhout said she would take notes, quickly type up the draft and print it out for him. Occasionally, Mr Trump would have more edits. She told the court she soon learned what made a “signature” Trump tweet.

Mr Trump denies all charges.

A US airman described as “a patriot” was shot dead in his hallway by a police officer who barged into the wrong apartment, his family has claimed.

Roger Fortson, 23, died from injuries when he was shot several times after answering his front door to a sheriff ’s deputy while holding a handgun in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on May 3.

The officer, who has not been named, was responding to a domestic violence call at Chez Elan Apartments.

Fortson’s family said he was alone in his home at the time. Police body cam footage released on Thursday shows the deputy knocking on his door and shouting: “Sheriff ’s office! Open the door!”

Fortson, a senior airman with 4th Special Operations Squadron, can be seen opening the door while holding a gun – which he has legally – pointed down at the floor in his right hand.

As he sees the officer, he briefly raises his left hand in protest but the deputy fires six shots at him, striking Fortson and causing him to fall to the floor.

“Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” the officer shouts after opening fire.

“It’s over there,” replies Mr Forston as he lies on the ground. “I don’t have it.”

The officer, who appears to be alone, calls for additional support on his radio.

Forston, who worked at Hurlburt Field airbase in Florida, later died from his wounds. Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing the family, said: “He was an exceptional guy.”

Okaloosa County sheriff Eric Aden said his department was “saddened” about the shooting. Florida’s department of law enforcement said it is investigating the shooting.

Roger Fortson’s mother Chantemekki, right, with a portrait of her son in uniform after he was shot dead in his Florida apartment by a police officer who had entered by mistake