COLUMBUS: Hundreds of protesters rallied on Friday evening in downtown Columbus, Ohio, demanding justice and transparency from investigations into the killing last week of a young black man shot by a sheriff’s deputy outside his home.
The crowd, shown in footage broadcast by local news outlets and on social media, marched downtown toward the Ohio statehouse chanting, “No justice, no peace, no racist police”.
Some participants in the march, followed closely by police officers on foot and in patrol cars, spilled into the streets, blocking traffic, but the gathering appeared peaceful and there were no reports of arrests.
The protest unfolded a week to the day after Casey Christopher Goodson, 23, was shot to death by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy assigned to a group of US marshals searching for a fugitive in the Northland neighbourhood where Goodson lived.
According to authorities, the officer said he had seen Goodson carrying a gun and opened fire on him when Goodson ignored the deputy’s order to drop the weapon.
Goodson’s family said he had been returning from a local sandwich shop and was shot in the back as he was about to enter his home. They said he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
A coroner’s report said Goodson was shot multiple times in the torso.
“I’m calling for justice and that’s all I’m calling for,” Goodson’s mother, Tamala Payne, said in a news conference Thursday. “My son was a peaceful man and I want his legacy to continue in peace.”
Lawyers for the deputy, identified as Jason Meade, said Goodson had pointed a gun at him before the shooting, CBS News and other media reported.
The shooting is the latest in a spate of killings of African Americans by police in the US that have triggered a wave of protests over racial injustice and brutality by law enforcement.
The Columbus Division of Police is investigating the shooting, along with the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice.
Tom Quinlan, chief of police in Columbus, has promised an “independent, meticulous unbiased investigation”.
Another protest was planned for downtown Columbus on Saturday at noon, according to the Columbus Dispatch and other local media.