Black man shot and killed by police while entering his own home

Trigger warning: Police brutality, Race-motivated violence

A 23-year-old Black man was shot and killed by police as he tried to enter his own home in an incident in Columbus, Ohio last week. It appears a Black man can't exist in America without the fear of being shot by a cop and you wonder why people are calling for the police force to be defunded. It was sheriff's deputy Jason Meade who shot and killed Casey Goodson. He was working for a fugitive task force and was reportedly investigating a man with a gun when he shot the 23-year-old. Casey Goodson wasn't the man Meade had been looking for but Goodson was shot as he turned the key to his house. The case is now being investigated by federal authorities, reported CNN. Jason Meade is a 17-year veteran of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office but was working with the Marshal's fugitive task force and on the lookout for violent offenders. 

Casey Goodson was returning from the dentist with food for his family when he was shot. Goodson fell into the kitchen, where his 5-year-old brother and his 72-year-old grandmother found him lying on the ground with a Subway sandwich, stated family attorney Sean Walton. His attorney said Goodson had committed no crimes, had no criminal background, and wasn't the target of any investigation either. The 23-year-old was legally armed at the time of the incident and had an Ohio concealed carry permit holder, according to the Columbus Division of Police. They also claimed that there was a verbal exchange prior to the shooting. The authorities reported that there were no witnesses to the incident including other police officers or civilians. There was no body camera footage of the shooting because Franklin County Sheriff's task force officers aren't issued body cameras. Goodson was described by the family attorney as "an amazing young man whose life was tragically taken."

The family's attorney said Jason Meade needs to be held accountable for his actions and asked the authorities to provide answers to the young man's family. "At this point, witness testimony and physical evidence raise serious concerns about why Casey was even confronted, let alone why he was shot dead while entering his own home," said Walton. "Even hours after his death, the keys that he used to let himself in the house as he was shot and killed hung in the door — a reminder to his family of how close he was to safety," said the attorney. The case is being investigated by the Columbus Police Critical Incident Response Team and will look into whether Meade was legally justified in shooting Goodson. The evidence will be handed to the Franklin County Prosecutor to be presented to a grand jury once the probe is completed, said the police. The US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and the FBI is also launching a federal civil rights investigation. "This offers the highest level of transparency and a clear path to the truth," Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said.

Local civil rights activists say there have one too many instances of police brutality in central Ohio city. Goodson's killing also reinforced the calls to defund the police. "A crisis of this magnitude calls for a massive realignment of power," said Chelsea Fuller, a Columbus-based spokeswoman for the Movement for Black Lives. "That realignment can and will happen through defunding the police, reducing their bloated budgets, and re-investing those resources in the creation of new systems of public safety that account for all lives, not just some." Kiara Yakita, the founder of the Black Liberation Movement of Central Ohio, feels defeated after having protested the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor all summer only for it to happen again. "We are feeling helplessness, hopelessness, and hurt. It's like we did all of that for nothing," said Yakita.