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The murder trial of retired Franklin County Sheriff Deputy Michael Jason Meade began in Franklin County Common Pleas Court after jury selection on January 30, 2024 – the day that would have been the 27th birthday of his shooting victim, Casey Goodson, Jr.  

No one, including Meade and his colleagues, denies that Goodson died from six bullet shot wounds to his vital organs from Meade’s Daniel Defense AR-15 automatic rifle that released six bullets with one trigger pull. The bullets passed through a wire mesh and shattered a storm door before entering Goodson’s back as he was opening the kitchen door of his grandmother’s home on Estates Place in northeast Columbus the morning of December 4, 2020. 

As in all murder trials, the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the death of the victim was intentionally caused by the accused. The level of the crime is determined by the circumstances and the mindset of the murderer. 

How does one process the anger, the pain, the hopelessness, the disappointment and above all the feeling of disgust that has become the all-consuming reality of daily life for so many of us? What excuse does the world have for its decades’ long blindness to, and passive acceptance of the gross injustice which is now unraveling before our eyes in Palestine, naked in all its ugliness and brutality? What mental laziness and moral apathy allows us to swallow the self-serving, fabricated narrative propagated by those whom we consider the ultimate weavers of our political fabric?

There’s a very controversial country music song "Try That In A Small Town" about policing that has been deemed having racist and lynching overtones.

Jeff Simpson, head of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) said on his X account, "I hope this song goes to #1. The tolerant left is off the hook. People need to stand up and not be moved. Keep fighting for this country."

When another X user pushed back saying County Music Television has stopped the video because of the veiled references to lynching, Simpson replied, "Back in the day that was the penalty you got for doing really bad things. Today you get nothing." Simpson is the leader of 4000+ Central Ohio police officers and a Columbus Police Officer! 

After social media back-and-forth, Tim Myers, a current deputy chief with Columbus Police wrote "Jeff, if you think lynching is 'the penalty you got for really bad things' you really need to educate yourself," "This is unacceptable." The City of Columbus is investigating and a Columbus Police Black officer has filed an EEO complaint with the city about Simpson in regards to these racist comments. 

Tuesday, February 6, 7-10pm, Club Diversity, 863 S. High St.

Join us for our DSA happy hour! We will be meeting on the first Tuesday of each month at Club Diversity at 863 S. High St. This will be an informal get together to meet, hang out, talk shop, and enjoy the camaraderie! Non-members are welcome to join and learn more about the chapter.

Hosted by Columbus DSA [Democratic Socialists of America].

Annie who?

Detective Richardson rubbed his hand over his face in a weary gesture. He looked over his notes again. Suspects were many, but determining the murderer was going to be difficult. Shelia was on the list. Right under suspect unknown because the case was never solved until you actually found the correct suspect who committed the crime. There was the unknown woman who pulled a knife on Smooth. There were the many unknown men of the women that Smooth fooled around with that were married or otherwise engaged. It could be any number of people that he did wrong in a bad business transition. But the suspect that caused Richardson the most concern was a young girl named Annie.

He came upon Annie accidentally when he was questioning more people from Smooth’s black book. Richardson was questioning Virgina Howard. Virgina was willing to tell him everything that she could to help bring “the bastard that killed my Smoothie to death roll.” Richardson didn’t have to really ask her any questions as she began to spill the beans without any hesitation.

House and Senate negotiators released a tax proposal that would improve the Child Tax Credit for about 80% of families with low incomes who now do not receive the full credit and lift an estimated 400,000 children above the poverty line.

Two more Columbus of Division of Police officers were arrested for stealing and dealing illicit drugs, the second such arrest over the previous three years.

John Castillo, 31, of Grove City, and Joel Mefford, 34, of London, Ohio, were taken into custody on Thursday by the FBI. Both are alleged to have stolen cocaine from houses suspected of drug trafficking, and Mefford was also accused of stealing a large amount of cocaine from the Columbus police property room. Whether the two were working in tandem was not revealed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, press release.

In 2021, two Columbus police narcotics officers assigned to the Division’s cartel unit were arrested by the FBI for dealing cocaine and fentanyl. Both Marco Merino, 44, and John Kotchkoski, 33, pled guilty and are now serving lengthy sentences.

Today, the coalition of civil rights organizations fighting for access and full participation of Black voters and other voting rights advocacy organizations behind the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights ballot amendment filed a legal challenge to AG Dave Yost’s unauthorized rejection of their proposal. The complaint requests that the Ohio Supreme Court issue a writ of mandamus directing the Attorney General to certify their petition, citing his clear lack of authority to opine on the proposed title, let alone reject it entirely based on his subjective distaste for it – a decision that impacts millions of Ohioans’ ability to cast a ballot.

The coalition released the following statement about their legal challenge:

“The latest rejection of our proposed ballot summary from AG Yost’s office is nothing but a shameful abuse of power to stymie the right of Ohio citizens to propose amendments to the Ohio Constitution.

Friday, February 2, 2024, 4:30 PM
Bicentennial Park, 233 S. Civic Center Dr.

Contact: Mark D. Stansbery, 614-252-9255 or walk@igc.org

Hosted by Columbus Campaign for Arms Control, Jewish Voices for Peace and others.