Published by The Guardian
Banko Brown’s messages had become increasingly desperate in recent weeks. The 24-year-old San Francisco community organizer was often shy about his struggles, but now he told loved ones he was unable to get a housing spot he’d long been pursuing, had been turned away from multiple shelters, and was forced to sleep on the train.
Brown’s friends and family suspect he was severely exhausted and hungry on 27 April when a security guard at a downtown Walgreens confronted him for allegedly shoplifting – and fatally shot him. Brown, who was unarmed, had reportedly tried to take snacks from the store.
Brown grew up in the city and navigated homelessness and the foster care system as a young child, said Julia Arroyo, co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC), a California non-profit that has worked with Brown since he was 12 years old: “He was always inquisitive and a deep listener and really invested in other people’s lives. Even at a young age, I could see the seed of him being a leader. He did his own research inside of the system.”