XPost: alt.politics.conservative, alt.politics.democrats, dc.politics   
   XPost: soc.culture.african.american   
   From: rkoch@banmlkday.com   
      
   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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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