San Francisco’s district attorney disclosed surveillance video Monday showing an on-duty Walgreens security guard fatally shooting a suspected shoplifter, along with additional footage and documentation she said supported her decision not to charge the officer.
After public uproar over the April 27 shooting of unarmed 24-year-old Banko Brown outside a downtown Walgreens, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins provided the facts. The Board of Supervisors voted to release further evidence last week. She didn’t charge guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony for self-defense.
In a community plagued with brazen stealing and conflict over how to handle crime, particularly when the suspect is homeless or underprivileged, surveillance video did not seem to appease critics.
San Francisco DA video shows Walgreens security guard killing shoplifter.
In the silent video, Anthony stops Brown from leaving with a bag and beats him repeatedly. Anthony pins Brown. During the altercation, consumers entered the store.
Brown leaves the store with the bag when Anthony releases him. He turns around and looks to walk toward Anthony, but Anthony raises his rifle and fires once, sending Brown crashing outside.
Anthony informed police that Brown was hostile and fought to keep the goods. He stated he assured Brown he would let him go if he calmed down, but Brown kept stating he would knife him. Brown was knifeless.
Anthony let Brown go but pulled his revolver and pointed it towards the ground in case Brown attacked. He shot when Brown advanced, not anticipating Brown would spit at him.
San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton stated that the footage does not justify the shooting. He’ll join Board President Aaron Peskin in asking the state attorney general to reconsider the prosecutor’s decision.
Jenkins, who initially dismissed the case May 1, noted that even after seeking further information, the guard’s reasonable claim of self-defense was uncontradicted. She urged viewers to check witness and police accounts, especially because the video footage is silent.
Humans will be tempted to solely watch this incident’s video. “We are used to seeing videos online, and that often captures our attention rather than going deeper,” she remarked in a news conference.
Brown, a homeless community organizer, works for the Young Women’s Freedom Center, a charity that supports young women and trans adolescents.
Banko Brown’s murder was unjustifiable without the video. “Armed force is not a justified response to poverty,” said Julia Arroyo, the center’s co-executive director, on Monday. “We must accept that he was killed for $14.”
Brown was brilliant, humorous, and introverted, but Arroyo said he made friends effortlessly.
Last Monday, Supervisor Dean Preston submitted legislation requiring private security guards to draw their guns only in response to a particular threat.
An email to Walgreens went unanswered. Walgreens, Target, and other downtown retailers have reported blatant stealing. Whole Foods temporarily closed a downtown site for staff safety.
Walgreens’ security provider, Kingdom Group Protective Services, said it is cooperating with law police and cannot comment.
Anthony has been a security guard since 2012.
Jenkins became district attorney last year after voters rejected Chesa Boudin for being too mild on crime. She promised to prosecute open-air drug peddling and retail theft fairly but firmly.
