(ARTIST: ALEX ALBADR)
Black lives are still under attack. Casey Goodson Jr. was on his way home from the dentist in Columbus, Ohio. He stopped to get Subway sandwiches for him, his brother, and his grandmother. He got home, put the keys in the side door, and as he stepped foot into his home, he was shot repeatedly in the back by Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Meade.
Casey Goodson Jr. died on December 4th in front of his 72-year-old grandmother and two toddlers. He was 23 years old. His mother, Tamala Payne, shared in grief: “My son, as I’ve stated a thousand times, was an amazing little boy. And he was still a little boy because he is always going to be my baby. Just knowing that Jason Meade took his voice, he no longer has one. Therefore, I am his voice and I know that I have to be his voice. I have to stand up for my son because, if I don’t, no one else will.”
Stand up for Casey Goodson Jr., his family, and his loved ones.
- Call the following numbers and demand:
- Jason Meade be immediately fired from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office;
- Jason Meade be arrested and charged for the murder of Casey Goodson;
- The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department immediately start wearing body cameras; and
- The Franklin County Sherrif’s Office operate with full transparency and accountability in an independent investigation.
- Dallas Baldwin – Franklin Co. Sheriff’s Dept.: 614-525-3333
- Andrew Ginther – Columbus Mayor: 614-645-7671
- Mike DeWine – Ohio Governor: 614-644-4357
- Ron O Brien – Franklin County Prosecutor:614-525-3555
Comment #JusticeForCaseyGoodson after you’ve called.
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis this summer sparked worldwide protests and the broadest protest movement in the history of our country. Yet the system of policing in the United States remains unchanged. Black men in America remain up to 3.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by law enforcement and 1 in every 1,000 black men will die at the hands of police.
Specifically for Columbus, Ohio (Also CNN, Alive):
“Goodson’s shooting last week is the latest in a series of police shootings involving young Black men and teens in the city of nearly 900,000 people.
Among the Black males killed by Columbus police in recent years were Julius Tate, a 16-year-old who was fatally shot by an officer in December 2018 during a sting operation; Kareem Ali Nadir Jones, a 30-year-old who was fatally shot by officers in July 2017; Tyre King, a 13-year-old killed by police in September 2016; and Henry Green, a 23-year-old shot dead by plainclothes officers in June 2016.
In 2018, police statistics show, almost 55% of CDP’s use-of-force incidents targeted Black people, who compose less than 29% of the population.
Aramis Sundiata, founder and executive director of the Columbus-based People’s Justice Project, described the Black community’s relationship with law enforcement as “antagonistic,” saying that residents don’t trust law enforcement and are often afraid to call 911 for emergencies.
“People know that there is a reality that you can be killed,” Sundiata said.
For Rodney Revish, a 41-year-old Black man living in Columbus, Goodson’s death shows that last summer’s nationwide protests fell on deaf ears with law enforcement.
“The Black community of Columbus and the Black community as a whole have one simple request, and it’s not a hard one: stop shooting us,” Revish said.
The community, he says, is exhausted from being profiled and unfairly targeted by police and wants more Black officers patrolling their neighborhoods.”
We need large scale, structural change, because this can’t keep happening to our sons, brothers, cousins, neighbors, coworkers, friends, and loved ones. The Columbus Police Department accounts for more than a third of the city’s budget. Yet, there is no accountability for ongoing police violence and brutality, or the overpolicing of communities of color. Support BQIC, a grassroots organization working for liberation in Columbus: https://bqic.net and follow the NAACP – Columbus, OH Branch.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 