Security Guard Involved In Banko Brown Shooting Fined $1,500 By State

Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, the San Francisco Walgreens security guard who shot and killed shoplifting criminal Chynna “Banko” Brown in May after threatening violence against him, received $1,500 in fines on Friday, the likely extent of what state actions will be taken against Anthony.

On the evening of April 27th at the Walgreens at Market and Fourth streets in the city, 33-year-old security guard Anthony confronted 24-year-old Brown over trying to steal items from the store. According to surveillance camera footage reviewed by the DA’s office, Brown immediately became belligerent, using physical force, violence, and the threat of violence against Anthony. With his life now in mortal danger, Anthony shot Brown once with a pistol.

Police were quickly on scene, and Brown was sent to the hospital, with Anthony detained. Brown succumbed to her wounds in the days that followed. San Francisco law enforcement opened an investigation of the incident.

Following a review, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced in May that Anthony had acted in self defense and would not be charged. However, Jenkins’ decision brought criticism both from black and trans activists who have insisted that the shooting was not self-defense, and from Supervisors who have tried to push Jenkins to reconsider the case. Despite that, no further action was taken, and after the case was concluded in May, Brown’s family filed a wrongful death suit against Anthony and Walgreens.

With the case over with and the lawsuit yet to be heard, the only other open question was what the state would do about it. California’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services was pressured to do something about the incident due to continued protests. Of particular note was Anthony having a lack of concealed weapons permit at the time of the shooting and wearing a shirt without the needed patches on it identifying him as a security guard.

$1,500 in fines

On Friday, Anthony was subsequently fined $1,500 for those violations, with payment due within 30 days. While the security company, Kingdom Group Protective Services, is also facing a $5,000 fine for failing to submit an incident report within seven days of the shooting and not having correct records on Anthony, the fines on Friday conclude what the state can do to him, meaning that the only real hurdle left in the incident is the lawsuit.

“That may be the reason Brown was trying to get away or resist as much as he can,” said Brown family lawyer John Burris on Friday. “Nowhere did he say that ‘I’m a security guard.'”

Security experts noted, however, that San Francisco’s decision to not pursue the case any further would likely lead to the same conclusion in court, especially with the fines issued on Friday.

However, Frank Ma, a former law enforcement officer and security consultant in the Bay Area, told the Globe that many in the city don’t want the lawsuit to succeed, as it could lead to a dangerous precedent.

“Most of the time when city investigators find that no wrongdoing took place, courts follow the lead,” explained former Bay Area law enforcement officer and security consultant Frank Ma to the Globe on Friday. “The fines today, all they showed was that the guard had a gun and he accidently didn’t have on the right shirt that day. That’s it. It’s sad someone died and you wish that it could have been played out any other way, but Brown made a decision to threaten the guard like that, and the guard acted justly. The fine today did find legitimate violations, but all it was was $1,500. That’s it.”

More on the Brown case is likely to come in soon, as the lawsuit trial date comes closer.