Two years after 'egregious' slaughter, public left prey to future 'Jason Meades'| Lawyer
Columbus civil rights attorney Sean Walton Jr. is a leader of the Columbus Police Accountability Project. His clients have included family members of people killed by police and police officers who have themselves experienced discrimination.
Michael Jason Meade is awaiting trial for the murder of a Franklin County citizen, a crime that allegedly took place while he was acting as a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy.
Meade was indicted on two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide, but only after being paid by Franklin County tax dollars for over six months while the circumstances were being investigated.
He eventually retired from his position as a deputy due to an alleged disability, and in the process, he was able to protect his taxpayer-funded pension; even though he was under investigation for and is now charged with murdering a citizen in the course of his employment.
WALTON: Attorney: 'Unfit' Jason Meade hunted Casey Goodson Jr. Family's cries for justice will continue.
An innocent man slaughtered
For all that we know, all that has been investigated and all that has been revealed in the two years since his death, Casey Goodson, Jr. was an innocent man who was killed by six shots from a rifle that hit him from behind as he entered his home with Airpods in his ears and Subway sandwiches in his hands.
He had no criminal history and was simply returning home from a visit to the dentist and a stop at Subway to bring food home for his family.
That rifle was aimed and fired by Meade, a sheriff’s deputy who had been restricted from any contact with inmates for nearly four years, and who had a work history filled with discipline for using excessive force and either lying about It or not revealing his use of force at all.
Just one year prior to killing Goodson, Meade was disciplined for using a Taser on a suspect and failing to report it.
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Despite this being arguably the most egregious crime committed against a citizen by a law enforcement officer in Franklin County history, after two years we have absolutely no idea what position Franklin County officials have taken on this alleged murder and what, if anything, they plan to do to protect citizens from further harm.
They have made it clear they have no interest in addressing any past harm caused.
The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has not only not taken any role in the investigation into Meade, but they delayed the criminal investigation by waiting over six months to appoint special prosecutors to lead the investigation.
More:Feds join Columbus police in Casey Goodson Jr. shooting investigation
That six-month delay was inexcusable and without justification but is a prime example of the lack of leadership on this matter and others when it comes to the office under current Prosecutor Gary Tyack.
A prosecutor that ran on a platform of police accountability and reform has failed his first assignment spectacularly, with no hope of improvement in sight.
Defense instead of accountability
In addition to delaying the criminal investigation, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has chosen to defend Meade and the sheriff’s office in a civil lawsuit brought by Goodson’s estate based on the incident and the patterns and practices of the Sheriff’s office that led to Meade murdering Goodson.
More:At body camera forum, Franklin County officials hear from family of Casey Goodson Jr.
They have not only not provided an answer to the lawsuit, brought by Goodson’s estate on December 2, 2021, but they have asked the court to stay discovery in the lawsuit until after the criminal process concludes.
None of this does the public any good.
One could argue it doesn’t do county officials any good – taking no position and delaying civil justice indefinitely for this family and this community.
However, the risk is far greater than simply furthering a family’s pain and denying a community any resolution to a matter that continues to haunt the central Ohio community that awaits one.
Franklin County Commissioners have, at least twice now, approved the budget for the sheriff’s office without requiring any review of the patterns and practices of the Sheriff’s Office, without any outside investigation into the patterns and practices, and without doing anything to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t training and enabling future Jason Meades.
Community left vulnerable by failed county leaders
They have done nothing to ensure that citizens of Franklin County are protected from what happened to Casey Goodson, Jr., and their lack of proactive leadership on this front denies Goodson’s family and this community the healing they deserve, while putting everyone else at the continued risk of harm.
Jason Meade bragged about he and his colleagues’ use of excessive force, and no one in Franklin County has even considered investigating those claims.
Opinion: Deputy Jason Meade was 'the Goliath' in Casey Goodson
This continued lack of leadership from the prosecutor’s office and commissioners comes as more information continues to be discovered outlining just how deep the pattern of malfeasance goes.
Public records requests show that just two days after killing Goodson, Meade emailed human resources and asked that all discipline in his file be removed.
Whistleblowers have provided Goodson’s family with information that Meade may have been a part of a “Goon Squad," commissioned by leadership at the Franklin County Jail to discipline unruly inmates.
This information reveals how patterns and practices of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office may have not only led to Goodson’s murder, but how those patterns and practices may have led to the abuse of Franklin County citizens past and present.
The Franklin County Commissioners have adopted the slogan, "Every Resident, Every Day," while simultaneously ignoring the threat to public safety that has been callously bragged about by one of their most notorious employees.
They have declared racism a public health crisis, while doing nothing to investigate the potential racism that Black citizens are encountering at the hands of the law enforcement officers who they control the budget for.
They talk of how important the collective mental health of Franklin County citizens is, while allowing a cloud of unresolved murder, protests and unrest to hover over this community.
To put it plainly, there is a failure of leadership in Franklin County.
Casey Goodson, Jr. was fatally shot by Meade over two years ago.
His death came just six months after social justice protests rocked the city of Columbus, as years of frustration and trauma boiled over. The protests and conversations surrounding the reasons for the protests brought hope that substantive changes would come as a result. In fact, many of our elected leaders expressed as much.
In the wake of those protests and after he himself was pepper-sprayed by Columbus Division of Police Officers, Franklin County Commission Kevin L. Boyce himself stated, “Action is needed to understand that the time is now to address the abuse of power and force and overhaul our system.” He also made the statement, “We cannot allow this moment to pass.”
Over a year has passed since the investigation concluded into Goodson’s murder and led to the indictment of Meade, the investigation that Franklin County Commissioners promised us action at the conclusion of. We must demand better leadership, and if our current leadership is not willing or able, then we must demand new leadership.
The family of Casey Goodson, Jr. deserves better. The people of Franklin County deserve better.
More:Joyce Beatty, Shannon Hardin, Kevin Boyce pepper-sprayed at protest
We have suffered for too long not just from the actions of those who harm us, but from the political leadership who fails to address past harm or protect us from future harm.
In the words of Sen. Rafael Warnock, our ballot is a blood-stained ballot. However, there is no reason it should continue to be.
Columbus civil rights attorney Sean Walton Jr. is a leader of the Columbus Police Accountability Project. His clients have included family members of people killed by police and police officers who have themselves experienced discrimination.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Casey Goodson shooting: What role does Sean Walton say Gary Tyack has played.
