The excuse for murder. My Walgreens Boss made me do it.

Lee Heidhues 5.15.2023

The Walgreens security guard was just following orders.

Now that D.A. Brooke Jenkins has decided not to prosecute the Walgreens Rent a cop who murdered Banko Brown the local media is flooding readers and viewers with the grisly video of the crime.

I cannot bear to watch the Video. It smacks of voyeurism to watch Banko Brown shot down In Cold Blood by the Walgreens Rent a Cop.

The Cop Shop DA Brooke Jenkins is, predictably and negligently, going to do nothing.

Watching the video will only infuriate and depress me further. The stills are dispositive enough that this was Murder. The Feds need to step up and prosecute this civil rights violation. Walgreens engages in inter-state commerce. The Feds have “standing”. Just do It.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.15.2023

A security guard who shot and killed a suspected shoplifter at a Walgreens store last month had been directed by his employer to engage in “hands-on” recovery of stolen items, which the guard said compelled him to confront the man, according to documents released Monday that added new layers to the debate over how to handle retail theft in San Francisco.

Life seeping away from Banko Brown after being shot by a Walgreens Rent a Cop in San Francisco – 4.27.2023

According to the D.A.’s report released Monday, on the date of the Walgreens confrontation, the company that employed Anthony — Kingdom Group Protective Services — “had recently changed the policy concerning what their guard-employees were to do in the way of active recovery of property from persons seen stealing merchandise from the Walgreens.”

Guards were instructed “to engage in ‘hands-on’ recovery of merchandise,” according to the report. “The guards … were to actively work to retrieve or recover any stolen items once it was clear that the individual who concealed the items intended to leave the store without paying.”

Banko Brown, 24, died April 27 outside the store after a confrontation captured on surveillance video also released Monday. The video showed guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony shoot Brown as he stepped backward onto the sidewalk, moments after he turned and made a slight movement toward Anthony. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday she would not charge Anthony. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/walgrreens-shooting-banko-brown-security-18100148.php

Top photo – A dying Banko Brown on the mean streets of San Francisco