District Attorney Won't File Charges In Walgreens Shooting

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on Monday that she will not press charges against a private security guard and released the video footage of the man fatally shooting 24-year-old Banko Brown.

Security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony is seen in the video stopping Brown, a transgender Black man, from leaving a downtown Walgreens on April 27 with alleged stolen goods. The two begin an altercation, and Anthony is seen in the video bringing Brown on the ground after throwing punches.

Brown is seen picking up the bag, getting up and leaving the store before he is fatally shot.
Jenkins said in a statement that upon reviewing evidence gathered by the San Francisco Police Department, her office concluded that the suspect was acting in self-defense, and that her office could not prove to a jury that there was a crime in this shooting.

"Banko Brown's death has deeply impacted me and our city," Jenkins said. "I join his friends, family and community in grieving him and searching for ways to address the systemic issues that led us to where we are today, with one young man Black man dead and another potentially looking at life in prison."

With her statement, Jenkins publicly released investigative records and video evidence of the shooting on her office's website.

"While I wish this tragedy would have never happened in the first place, it is my duty to follow the law and the evidence wherever it leads," she said.

Just last week, city supervisors unanimously passed a resolution that urged Jenkins to release the security footage. Before it was passed, the supervisors expressed disappointment in the way Jenkins went about this case.

In response to Jenkins' announcement, Supervisor Shamann Walton said it is clear that Brown was walking backwards after being thrown to the ground. He joins Board President Aaron Peskin in calling California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the U.S. Department of Justice to review Jenkins' decision.

"Where is the perceived threat? Jenkins' decision to not charge gives every armed security guard in San Francisco a license to have an open season to shoot and kill Black and transgender people for alleged shoplifting," he said, in a statement.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.