( NewsNation ) — A security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens shot and killed a transgender rights activist over stolen candy last April but was not charged in the 24-year-old’s death , despite public outrage. Now, the district attorney who decided not to charge the man with the killing is running for reelection this November, but her opponent vows to seek charges.
Private security guard Michael Anthony was ordered to crack down on shoplifters at Walgreens, as businesses in San Francisco’s Union Square have battled an unending slew of shoplifting incidents and burglaries.
Anthony carried a firearm as part of a heightened security push at Walgreens and fired the .40-caliber Glock at a man he believed to be shoplifting on April 27, 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported . Security camera footage shows a man, later identified as Banko Brown , in sweatpants and a T-shirt grabbing something from a shelf and slipping it into a bag.
Brown pushed past Anthony. The two tumbled to the ground, and at one point Anthony put Brown in a headlock. After releasing him from the headlock, Brown backed out of the store, at which point Anthony shot him once in the chest. Brown died.