Surveillance video of a San Francisco Walgreens security guard shooting and killing a transgender shoplifter and activist was released on Monday by the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins released the video to defend her reason for not charging the security guard, Michael Earl-Wanye Anthony, for the April 27 killing of 24-year-old Banko Brown (formerly Chynna Lashea-Brown).
“Banko Brown’s death has deeply impacted me and our city. 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,” Jenkins wrote in a press statement.
She continued, “After careful review of all of the evidence gathered by the San Francisco Police Department and my office in this case, we will not be pursuing murder charges in connection to the shooting of Banko Brown. After the case’s initial discharge on May 1, 2023, we sought additional evidence to refute the suspect’s claims of reasonable self-defense and, to date, have not found any evidence that did so. Without evidence to refute the suspect’s reasonable self-defense claim in court, we can not ethically meet our burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that a crime was committed.”
“With the video that has no sound, no audio to it, it is difficult to have context to what is going on, and that is why we must listen to the security guard’s statement, the witness statements, and everything else in order to look at the full picture…” @BrookeJenkinsSF pic.twitter.com/7ZoMYnaL2N
— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) May 16, 2023
In the surveillance footage, Brown had a bag in his hand and approached the Walgreens exist, located at 825 Market St.
Anthony holds out his hand, palm facing up, which he told investigators that he was asking for Brown’s receipt. Brown pushed Anthony off him to try to exit.
During the security guard’s interrogation with police, he said that his encounters with shoplifters usually aren’t aggressive, but this incident was different. He claimed he had a bad shoulder and was afraid he would have to fight Brown, putting his shoulder at risk of popping out.
Eventually, the two engage in a physical altercation, causing the stolen items to scatter all over the floor by the front doors.
Anthony managed to get Brown into a chokehold. The guard told investigators he continued telling Brown he would release him after he calmed down. At some point during their brawl, Anthony retrieved his gun from his holster after allegedly hearing Brown threaten to stab him.
The guard admitted to police during his interrogation that he didn’t know if Brown had a knife on him, only believing Brown because of his aggressive nature and words.
The security guard released Brown and told police that he attempted to put some distance between him and Brown. The video showed Anthony with his gun at his side, facing down toward his own feet.
Brown grabbed the bag with some of the stolen goods and walked toward the doors. It appeared that Anthony was going to allow Brown to walk out. That’s when things escalated. Anthony told police that Brown came at him, and because of the threats, he thought his life was in danger.
In addition to launching at the guard, Brown spat at Anthony, which landed near his face.
Anthony didn’t know he would spit at him, so when he saw Brown launch at him after making stabbing threats, he fired at him in the chest.
“I’m thinking about my safety the whole time,” Anthony said during his interrogation. “It’s not about none of the items getting put back. It’s just straight about my safety. I was thinking about my dislocated shoulder popping out again in the scuffle… whatever… possibly my gun getting taken away. …I don’t know what to expect. I heard she’s gonna stab me, that’s when I took out my gun ’cause I never had drawn my weapon initially until she says something about stabbing me. I kept some distance between me and her. Had held the barrel down…downward and um, that’s when she was…looked like she was going to walk out…but then she turned around and advanced towards me while I’m already drawn down….”
Anthony and the police called Brown a “her” because they didn’t know his pronouns but said Brown looked like a man.
After shooting Brown, Anthony said he screamed for someone to call the police. Brown apologized for his aggressiveness and said he was just being stupid. Anthony understood and instructed him to breathe.
When police arrived, Brown was unconscious but breathing. Eventually, he died.
After the police asked all their questions, Anthony asked if he would go home, but the police revealed that they were homicide detectives and Brown had died. Anthony was distraught at the revelation and began to cry, exclaiming that he was trying to protect himself.
“I can’t believe this! I can’t believe it, man! I swear… like! All I was trying to do is go to work and f**king come home, man! And protect my f**king self, man! There’s too much crazy s**t going on!”
The DA’s office released the surveillance video, a witness cell phone video, body cam footage and the full interview of Anthony to show the public why they couldn’t press charges against the guard due to insufficient evidence.
Because there’s no audio to the surveillance video, many didn’t believe Brown threatened the guard, including the supervisor of the nonprofit where Brown worked, the Young Women’s Freedom Center.
“Where is the perceived threat?” Supervisor Shamann Walton said, according to New York Post.
“We do not need to see the video to know that Banko Brown’s killing was unjustified. Armed force is not a justified response to poverty,” Julia Arroyo, co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center, said. “We must live with the sobering reality that he was killed for no other cause but $14.”
However, Jenkins urges the public to examine every evidence the DA released to understand why charging Anthony wasn’t legally sound.
“We are accustomed to seeing videos online, and that often is what captures our attention rather than going the extra step to look deeper.”
Please be warned that much of the released evidence is graphic and may be challenging to look at for some people.
Surveillance video
Cellphone video *Warning: Graphic*
Full interrogation
