XPost: alt.politics.conservative, alt.politics.democrats, alt.business
XPost: dc.politics

San Francisco's DA is facing a wave of criticism and anger after
she declined to press charges in the fatal shooting by a drug
store security guard of a Black transgender man who was homeless.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

San Francisco's district attorney is facing a fierce backlash
after declining to press charges this week against the Walgreens
drug store security guard who shot and killed a man who was
shoplifting from the store. From KQED in San Francisco, Marisa
Lagos has our story.

MARISA LAGOS, BYLINE: The April 27 killing of Banko Brown by
security guard Michael Anthony immediately sparked outrage in
San Francisco, a city where brazen shoplifting has become a
political flashpoint amid a fentanyl crisis and a widening chasm
between the wealthy and impoverished. Video released Monday by
prosecutors shows Brown, a Black transgender man who was
homeless, being confronted by Anthony as Brown tries to leave
the store with stolen goods. Security video footage shows a
nearly minute-long struggle during which Anthony, who's also
Black, has Brown in a headlock and lays on top of him. Anthony
eventually lets him go. But as Brown is leaving, he turns around
on the threshold of the doorway and gestures toward Anthony. At
that point, Anthony shoots Brown once. He was pronounced dead at
a local hospital.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN BURRIS: Outrageous, unconscionable act of violence on the
part of the security officer. The facts from the video do not
support the use of deadly force.

LAGOS: That's attorney John Burris, a civil rights lawyer
representing Brown's family. He and other critics say Banko was
not a threat and that the video shows Anthony, the security
guard, as the aggressor. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins,
though, says the video, which has no audio, isn't the only
relevant evidence.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BROOKE JENKINS: 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 of the incident.

LAGOS: Jenkins says she didn't believe prosecutors could prove a
case against the security guard in court. Anthony told
investigators that during the altercation, Brown said he had a
knife and threatened to stab Anthony, though no weapon was
found. And witnesses reported Brown spitting at Anthony and
lunging back toward him as the shot was fired. Here's DA Jenkins.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JENKINS: And at this time, there is nothing to rebut his
statements regarding the fact that he acted in self-defense.

LAGOS: Jenkins has been under pressure to release the video and
other evidence in the case for weeks ever since announcing on
May 1 that her office wouldn't charge Anthony. Following outcry,
she reversed course and said charges were still under
consideration. On Monday, she released a slew of evidence,
including the security video, as she declined to file charges
again. Instead of quelling criticism, though, that evidence
seems to have raised more questions. County Supervisor Aaron
Peskin is asking state and federal officials to investigate
Brown's shooting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AARON PESKIN: This is not who we are. Stealing a bag of candy
does not warrant what is, in essence, the death penalty. I don't
think that the district attorney's behavior in this case is
making San Francisco safer.

LAGOS: Jenkins was already a divisive figure in San Francisco.
She was appointed DA by San Francisco's mayor after helping lead
a heated recall campaign to oust her progressive predecessor.
That campaign helped shaped a national narrative of San
Francisco as a city where crime and open-air drug use are out of
control. And Jenkins has received criticism in recent months for
dismissing charges against police officers involved in on-duty
shootings. But as San Francisco struggles to figure out how to
rein in shoplifting, the repercussions of Brown's death could
reach far beyond this case. Members of the transgender community
here continue to express anger. Honey Mahogany, chair of the
local Democratic Party, notes trans people are far more likely
to be impoverished and homeless.

HONEY MAHOGANY: The reality is that this could have been any
number of people. Every one of us has had a low point. And to
think that, you know, in that moment of vulnerability and in
that moment of trying to survive, that you could be shot dead.

LAGOS: For now, protests continue. And Burris, the Brown family
attorney, plans to file suit against the security firm that
employed Anthony and Walgreens. For NPR News, I'm Marisa Lagos
in San Francisco.

The lesson here is, "DON'T STEAL".

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/17/1176756491/wave-of-criticism- follows-san-francisco-das-decision-in-walgreens-shooting
 

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