To protest his childhood friend’s killing by police in Columbus this week, Ohio State forward Seth Towns kneeled before his team’s 90-85 victory over Notre Dame on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
According to CNN, federal officials are now investigating the death of 23-year-old Casey Goodson — Towns’ friend — who was shot and killed Friday by Jason Meade, a local sheriff’s deputy, as he entered his home. Meade reportedly said he saw a man with a gun prior to the shooting.
Goodson’s family’s attorney told CNN that the 23-year-old man had a concealed carry permit and he was legally armed at the time of the shooting, but he only had a Subway sandwich in his hands when he was killed.
Justice for Casey Goodson pic.twitter.com/EpTl1vlou9
— Seth 💤 (@seth_towns17) December 9, 2020
Towns tweeted “Justice for Casey Goodson” with a picture of him kneeling before Tuesday’s game. Towns, a Harvard grad transfer who has not yet played this season as he recovers from a knee injury, made national headlines in May when he was detained by police during a Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus.
On the day Goodson was killed, Towns tweeted that he’d grown up with him in Columbus.
Broken hearted this morning to learn that a young man I grew up with and one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever known, Casey Goodson, was killed by a Columbus Police veteran and current US Marshal yesterday. https://t.co/3mwFMsP1JI
— Seth 💤 (@seth_towns17) December 5, 2020
Towns has been vocal in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
After Floyd’s death, Towns was detained by police officers in Columbus after encouraging a crowd of peaceful protesters to “Say his name!” The crowd responded by yelling, “George Floyd!”
After the incident, Towns said he would continue to play an active role to fight against social injustice.
“I won’t stop,” he said during an interview on SportsCenter after he’d been detained. “I will continue to use my voice to speak out for the people who are unheard, and that’s what I did. Voice is so important. And when I say ‘voice,’ I’m not talking about speaking, per se; I’m talking about actions. I’m talking about going out and protesting, and doing your duty as a member of this democracy.”