Originally Posted by Anti Federalist
It's a shocker the guard didn't get charged. I guess San Francisco isn't as bad as New York. (Alan Bragg charging a guard with attempted murder because the guard, after being shot himself, took the gun from the criminal and shot and wounded the criminal.)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/ar...s-18000633.php
San Francisco prosecutors declined to file charges against a security guard who was arrested on suspicion of shooting and killing a 24-year-old man near a Walgreens on Market Street last week.
On Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement, “The evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense.”
Related: S.F. supervisor urges District Attorney to reconsider not filing charges in Walgreens shooting
Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony was released Monday afternoon. Anthony shot Banko Brown on the 800 block of Market Street on Thursday, authorities said.
“We reviewed witness statements, statements from the suspect, and video footage of the incident and it does not meet the People’s burden to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that the suspect is guilty of a crime. We cannot bring forward charges when there is credible evidence of reasonable self-defense,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Doing so would be unethical and create false hope for a successful prosecution.”
In the incident that led to Brown’s killing, “both threats of force and physical force were used,” she told The Chronicle, declining to divulge further details, including whether Brown was allegedly armed. She said prosecutors weren’t convinced they could prove murder charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It’s never easy to have to come to that conclusion,” Jenkins said, but, “my personal feelings cannot be what governs my decision. It has to be the law.”
The news came just hours after a crowd of mourners gathered outside Walgreens on Monday.
Brown’s stepmother, Barbra Brown, struggled for words Monday afternoon, gesturing wordlessly as tears trickled down her face.
She then squared her shoulders and addressed the throng, saying her stepson had not deserved to die.
“This was a senseless death,” she said.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Friday that the shooting was “a shoplift that went bad. The person that was shot was allegedly shoplifting, and it was a confrontation and the shooting happened from there.”
At Monday’s rally, Barbra Brown and hundreds of others crowded the narrow sidewalk outside the closed Walgreens. They recalled Brown as a kind and dedicated member of San Francisco’s transgender community, who’d worked extensively with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, which works to reduce the incarceration of young women and transgender youth.
Brown “was a connector,” said Julia Arroyo, the center’s executive director.
“He was constantly doing outreach, bringing people into YWFC,” she said. Brown struggled with housing, often feeling unsafe in city shelters or other programs, she said, and often said he wanted to be housed with other transgender San Franciscans.
“He checked in every morning,” she said. Sometimes he’d tell her he’d had to sleep on a BART train and asked to come into the center for shelter.
She and others Monday called on Walgreens to be held accountable for Brown’s death and called on Mayor London Breed to make good on campaign promises to eradicate homelessness among the city’s transgender youth population.
He had “the most beautiful smile,” said Jessica Nowlan, the center’s president and former executive director. “He was passionate about the work. And he was clear about what he needed — housing without barriers, which the city didn’t provide.”
Brown’s shooting comes amid a raging debate in San Francisco about public safety and complaints over the city’s property crime rate. That debate was stirred up again in recent weeks after a local Whole Foods store downtown shut its doors less than a year after it opened.
But while Scott said Brown’s killing occurred after a “shoplift that went bad,” mourners and protesters Monday placed the blame on city leadership, saying that his death was a symptom of a city that has become unaffordable for legions of residents, leaving its poorest homeless and hungry.
“We have basic human rights not being met,” said BART board member Lateefah Simon, who was once executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center.
According to state records, Anthony has an active license to carry a firearm as a private guard.
In an email, Walgreens officials said they were offering condolences to Brown’s family “during this difficult time,” and said they were working with authorities.
In a written statement, Breed spokesperson Jeff Cretan said the city “is deeply committed” to its transgender residents and said that in the last two years, the city has created 400 new housing and shelter placements dedicated to youth experiencing homelessness, as well as expanding problem-solving and rental assistance.
“Through this work, San Francisco strives to be a national leader in supporting trans communities and helping people on the path to housing and stability in a country where too often the basic rights and safety of trans people are under attack,” he wrote.
For hours Monday, protesters chanted Brown’s name, called for justice and consoled each other.
Among them was Xavier Davenport, one of Brown’s mentors. The two met during the pandemic, he said. Brown often attended a support group Davenport ran for transgender men. He said Brown went out of his way to help children.
“Why is property more important than a human life?” asked Geoffrea Morris, a community activist and attorney.
On Tuesday, a couple dozen protesters flooded the Board of Supervisors’ chamber in City Hall during public comment chanting “Justice for Banko Brown,” with some holding signs that read “Hold DA Jenkins accountable.”
The supervisors are not responsible for Jenkins’ decision to drop charges, but their weekly meeting provides a public forum for residents to voice their complaints.
Emily Ramirez, a student at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Policy, told supervisors, “There is no reason a security guard should be shooting someone” who was trying to get a basic necessity.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a text to The Chronicle that “last Thursday’s homicide was a terribly painful loss to a community that loved him very much,” but added that “in this case, D.A. Jenkins and her office found insufficient evidence to pursue murder charges against the suspect.”
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said during the meeting that he was “deeply concerned based on my conversations with law enforcement by the district attorney’s decision not to charge at least manslaughter.”
He said he would introduce formal action to urge the district attorney to reconsider the charging decision, although he conceded it was very rare that the legislative branch wades into individual case decisions by the district attorney. Supervisor Shamann Walton said he stood by Peskin’s stance.
In her interview with The Chronicle, Jenkins noted a recent incident in which a shoplifter, according to police, shot and killed an employee of a Home Depot in Pleasanton who tried to prevent that theft.
“We are going to have to engage in very intense discussion about what we believe should be done by these stores,” she said. “What we believe is appropriate, what is fair.”
Mallory Moench contributed to this report.
Reach St. John Barned-Smith: stjohn.smith@sfchronicle.com
On Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement, “The evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense.”
Related: S.F. supervisor urges District Attorney to reconsider not filing charges in Walgreens shooting
Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony was released Monday afternoon. Anthony shot Banko Brown on the 800 block of Market Street on Thursday, authorities said.
“We reviewed witness statements, statements from the suspect, and video footage of the incident and it does not meet the People’s burden to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that the suspect is guilty of a crime. We cannot bring forward charges when there is credible evidence of reasonable self-defense,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Doing so would be unethical and create false hope for a successful prosecution.”
In the incident that led to Brown’s killing, “both threats of force and physical force were used,” she told The Chronicle, declining to divulge further details, including whether Brown was allegedly armed. She said prosecutors weren’t convinced they could prove murder charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It’s never easy to have to come to that conclusion,” Jenkins said, but, “my personal feelings cannot be what governs my decision. It has to be the law.”
The news came just hours after a crowd of mourners gathered outside Walgreens on Monday.
Brown’s stepmother, Barbra Brown, struggled for words Monday afternoon, gesturing wordlessly as tears trickled down her face.
She then squared her shoulders and addressed the throng, saying her stepson had not deserved to die.
“This was a senseless death,” she said.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Friday that the shooting was “a shoplift that went bad. The person that was shot was allegedly shoplifting, and it was a confrontation and the shooting happened from there.”
At Monday’s rally, Barbra Brown and hundreds of others crowded the narrow sidewalk outside the closed Walgreens. They recalled Brown as a kind and dedicated member of San Francisco’s transgender community, who’d worked extensively with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, which works to reduce the incarceration of young women and transgender youth.
Brown “was a connector,” said Julia Arroyo, the center’s executive director.
“He was constantly doing outreach, bringing people into YWFC,” she said. Brown struggled with housing, often feeling unsafe in city shelters or other programs, she said, and often said he wanted to be housed with other transgender San Franciscans.
“He checked in every morning,” she said. Sometimes he’d tell her he’d had to sleep on a BART train and asked to come into the center for shelter.
She and others Monday called on Walgreens to be held accountable for Brown’s death and called on Mayor London Breed to make good on campaign promises to eradicate homelessness among the city’s transgender youth population.
He had “the most beautiful smile,” said Jessica Nowlan, the center’s president and former executive director. “He was passionate about the work. And he was clear about what he needed — housing without barriers, which the city didn’t provide.”
Brown’s shooting comes amid a raging debate in San Francisco about public safety and complaints over the city’s property crime rate. That debate was stirred up again in recent weeks after a local Whole Foods store downtown shut its doors less than a year after it opened.
But while Scott said Brown’s killing occurred after a “shoplift that went bad,” mourners and protesters Monday placed the blame on city leadership, saying that his death was a symptom of a city that has become unaffordable for legions of residents, leaving its poorest homeless and hungry.
“We have basic human rights not being met,” said BART board member Lateefah Simon, who was once executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center.
According to state records, Anthony has an active license to carry a firearm as a private guard.
In an email, Walgreens officials said they were offering condolences to Brown’s family “during this difficult time,” and said they were working with authorities.
In a written statement, Breed spokesperson Jeff Cretan said the city “is deeply committed” to its transgender residents and said that in the last two years, the city has created 400 new housing and shelter placements dedicated to youth experiencing homelessness, as well as expanding problem-solving and rental assistance.
“Through this work, San Francisco strives to be a national leader in supporting trans communities and helping people on the path to housing and stability in a country where too often the basic rights and safety of trans people are under attack,” he wrote.
For hours Monday, protesters chanted Brown’s name, called for justice and consoled each other.
Among them was Xavier Davenport, one of Brown’s mentors. The two met during the pandemic, he said. Brown often attended a support group Davenport ran for transgender men. He said Brown went out of his way to help children.
“Why is property more important than a human life?” asked Geoffrea Morris, a community activist and attorney.
On Tuesday, a couple dozen protesters flooded the Board of Supervisors’ chamber in City Hall during public comment chanting “Justice for Banko Brown,” with some holding signs that read “Hold DA Jenkins accountable.”
The supervisors are not responsible for Jenkins’ decision to drop charges, but their weekly meeting provides a public forum for residents to voice their complaints.
Emily Ramirez, a student at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Policy, told supervisors, “There is no reason a security guard should be shooting someone” who was trying to get a basic necessity.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a text to The Chronicle that “last Thursday’s homicide was a terribly painful loss to a community that loved him very much,” but added that “in this case, D.A. Jenkins and her office found insufficient evidence to pursue murder charges against the suspect.”
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said during the meeting that he was “deeply concerned based on my conversations with law enforcement by the district attorney’s decision not to charge at least manslaughter.”
He said he would introduce formal action to urge the district attorney to reconsider the charging decision, although he conceded it was very rare that the legislative branch wades into individual case decisions by the district attorney. Supervisor Shamann Walton said he stood by Peskin’s stance.
In her interview with The Chronicle, Jenkins noted a recent incident in which a shoplifter, according to police, shot and killed an employee of a Home Depot in Pleasanton who tried to prevent that theft.
“We are going to have to engage in very intense discussion about what we believe should be done by these stores,” she said. “What we believe is appropriate, what is fair.”
Mallory Moench contributed to this report.
Reach St. John Barned-Smith: stjohn.smith@sfchronicle.com
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