Disturbing Footage Shows Alleged Shoplifter Was Retreating When Walgreens Guard Killed Him
Disturbing new footage revealed Monday that Banko Brown, the suspected shoplifter fatally shot by a Walgreens security guard in San Francisco last month, was walking backwards out of the store when a single shot was fired into his chest.
Prosecutors released the graphic clip along with an announcement Monday that Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, won’t face criminal charges in the death of Brown, a 24-year-old Black man.
The security footage showed Brown and Anthony fighting near the store’s entrance, with the security guard repeatedly hitting Brown before placing him in a headlock and pinning him to the ground. Anthony drew his gun as they broke apart, later telling cops he did so because Brown threatened to stab him, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office wrote in a lengthy report on Monday.
Brown managed to get up, grab a bag of what prosecutors described as “stolen merchandise,” and walk backwards through the entrance while making a brief, sudden movement at Anthony. Less than two seconds later, Anthony fired a single shot from his handgun, and Brown collapsed to the sidewalk outside.
A pair of witnesses quoted in Jenkins’ report recalled seeing Brown spit at Anthony just before the shot was fired. One of those witnesses said “spit, flinch, and shot all seemed to happen at the same time,” the report said.
Jenkins said previously that the unsettling clip “clearly” showed Anthony acted in self-defense on April 27.
She backed that statement up Monday, saying in her report, “Anthony acted in lawful self-defense when he fired his weapon at Brown. Therefore, at this time, there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution of Anthony for the death of Brown.”
However, Shamann Walton, a San Francisco supervisor, described the shooting to The San Francisco Standard as an “execution,” saying Anthony had the “upper hand” the entire time.
Likewise, Brown’s father, Terry Brown, expressed outraged at Jenkins’ determination of self defense.
“She knows Banko was out the store. They had an altercation,” he told Mission Local. “You already beat [his] ass—and then he’s out the store—he’s no threat to him. And that’s self defense? This makes no sense.”
The unsettling footage—and lack of charges—are expected to spur protests locally, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
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