Published by LGBTQ Nation
The San Francisco district attorney’s office has released surveillance footage of the moment a Walgreens security guard shot and killed 24-year-old trans man Banko Brown, who had been accused of shoplifting.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has elected not to press charges against the guard, Michael Ear-Wayne Anthony, claiming that the video proves he reasonably acted in self-defense. But many community members are appalled by the decision and say the video clearly shows Brown backing away when Anthony fired a shot into his chest.
Julia Arroyo, co-executive director of the Young Woman’s Freedom Center, where Brown was a community organizer, blasted Jenkins for her “‘tough on crime’ attitude and insistence on punishing the poor and protecting the interests of corporations at the expense of communities of color.”
“We are tired. We are angry. And we are devastated,” Arroyo continued. ”But we will not stop fighting for justice for Banko.”