COLUMBUS – The Franklin County Commissioners Wednesday approved $2.5 million in funding for the Sheriff’s Office to purchase body cameras less than two weeks after the fatal shooting of a Black man by a deputy in a northside neighborhood resulted in an outcry over the lack of footage of the encounter.
Authorities’ account of the shooting is different from that of Casey Goodson Jr.’s family, who claim the 23-year-old man was carrying sandwiches, not a gun, when he was shot to death.
The commissioners began discussions on funding for body cameras for the Sheriff’s Office following a wave of protests in Columbus in June in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement.
But movement on the status of funding began to pick up after Deputy Jason Meade fatally shot the 23-year-old Goodson Jr. on Dec. 4.
“I’d like to thank the Franklin County Board of Commissioners for approving my request for funds so my office can purchase body cameras for deputies. Body cameras help provide transparency to the public and can also help vindicate deputies when complaints are made against them,” Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said in a statement.
There was no body-cam video of the incident or any witnesses.
U.S. Attorney David DeVillers issued a statement saying that there is a single criminal probe underway in the case, a joint criminal civil rights investigation being conducted by the FBI, the Columbus Division of Police, and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General in partnership with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.
“We are in agreement that the facts and the law could lead to federal charges, to state charges, or to no charges at all,” DeVillers said.
“Our goal is to conduct a thorough and accurate investigation without compromising the integrity and legitimacy of the investigation. This means we must balance the public’s interest in the investigation with a potential defendant’s right to a fair trial. Disclosing information prematurely or releasing potentially challenged evidence could severely jeopardize the investigation and any possible prosecution.” – U.S. Attorney David DeVillers
A U.S. marshal has called remarks he made immediately after the shooting premature.
Peter Tobin, the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said the shooting was justified but said a week later that his comments were based on insufficient information.
Meade shot Goodson while working for a Marshals fugitive task force.
Tobin’s statement came minutes before hundreds gathered in downtown Columbus to protest Goodson’s death.