Hundreds march in Ohio to protest police shooting of Casey Goodson

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Columbus, Ohio on Friday evening to protest the police shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. 

A local county sheriff’s deputy, Jason Meade, fatally shot Goodson, a 23-year-old Black man, at the beginning of December.

The group of protestors marched nearly five blocks holding signs with “Justice for Casey,” “Black Lives Matter,” and “No justice, no peace,” written across them. They also said a prayer and made an appeal for change, according to WBNS.

You can hear them chanting “Say his name Casey Goodson” throughout downtown. https://t.co/QgNz1t1huR

— KristaWBNS (@KristaWBNS) December 12, 2020

Earlier this month, Goodson’s death was ruled a homicide, based on findings from a preliminary autopsy.

When Goodson was shot, deputy Meade was working as a member of a U.S. Marshals Task Force focused on violent offenders. The agency said Goodson “was not the person being sought” by the task force at the time.

“The deputy was investigating the situation, and there are reports of a verbal exchange. The deputy fired at Mr. Casey Goodson, resulting in his death. A gun was recovered from Mr. Goodson,” Columbus Division of police said at the time.

Lawyers for Goodson’s family have maintained that the authorities’ “narrative leaves out key details that raise cause for extreme concern,” citing that Goodson was shot near his home after returning from a dentist appointment.

His case is set to be reviewed by Ohio’s Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office and brought before a grand jury.