The family of Banko Brown, the man who a Walgreens security officer gunned down, is pleading for criminal charges to be filed in the case.
Brown was murdered inside a San Francisco Walgreens location on April 27th. The guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, claimed that Brown attempted to shoplift and repeatedly told him he was carrying a knife. That is when Anthony shot Brown inside the store. Anthony was arrested but claimed that he acted in self-defense. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins reviewed the surveillance footage and determined that no charges would be filed, a decision that Brown’s family strongly disagreed with.
His father, Terry Brown, says the immense amount of grief cannot be put into words. He was the first to receive the tragic news that Banko had been killed after the dying man mustered up the energy to give first responders his father’s number. He believes that the guard is solely liable for the murder but also thinks Walgreens should be held accountable for using the security company that hired him. Additionally, Terry is not convinced that the motive for the killing was Banko allegedly stealing.
“I think it’s because of the gender and what my son represented,” Terry revealed. Banko was born a female but identified and presented as a male, something his dad is sure triggered Anthony. He believes his son’s death was a “modern-day lynching.” Terry feels that even if murder charges are not filed, Anthony should receive some sort of criminal punishment.
“You see the camera, no manslaughter. No nothing. No assault with a deadly weapon. No nothing? It don’t make no sense to me,” he added.
John Burris, the attorney representing the Brown family, is planning on filing a wrongful death civil suit on their behalf against Walgreens, Anthony, and the security firm that hired him.
