Family of Banko Brown settles for $5M over 2023 killing by Walgreens guard
$5 million settlement in shooting death of Banko Brown
The family of Banko Brown, a 24-year-old killed by a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens in 2023, will receive $5 million from the guard and his employer, according to a motion filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday.
SAN FRANCISCO - The family of Banko Brown, a 24-year-old killed by a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens in 2023, will receive $5 million from the guard and his employer, according to a motion filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday.
Banko Brown settlement
On April 27, 2023, Brown, a trans man, was shot and killed by Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, a security guard employed by Kingdom Group Protective Services, at a Walgreens on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. Brown, who was unarmed, had allegedly shoplifted snacks before a brief argument with Anthony.
Brown grew up in San Francisco and was an organizer with the Young Women's Freedom Center, a group that supports women and trans youth. His killing sparked outrage nationwide and set off a movement to disarm security guards in the city and to overhaul training procedures for armed security guards.
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in 2023 by Brown's parents, Terry Brown and Kevinisha Henderson, who are represented by Ben Nisenbaum, a lawyer with the Oakland law firm Burris, Nisenbaum, Curry and Lacy. The complaint named Anthony, Kingdom Group Protective Services, Allied Universal Security Services, Walgreens and Walgreens Boots Alliance as responsible parties for Brown's death due to a practice of "negligent hiring, training and supervision of Anthony."
Both parties agree to settlement
Nisenbaum on Thursday confirmed that both parties agreed to the settlement. Walgreens, its parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Allied Universal Security Services have not reached an agreement with Brown and Henderson.
After pressure from civil rights leaders, in October 2023, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to amend the city's police code to allow guards to draw a firearm only after a threat to a person — not, as the code previously stated, to property.
By May 4, 2023, Kingdom security guards were disarmed at Walgreens stores in San Francisco and Kingdom was eventually removed as the contracted security services from the store, according to emails included in court documentation.
The backstory:
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins ultimately declined to bring charges against Anthony for Brown's killing.
Settlement terms in the wrongful death lawsuit included complete dismissal of the complaint against Kingdom and its employee, Anthony, according to the motion filed Thursday morning by Marlon D'Oyen, an attorney for Kingdom.
One interview included in court documents stated that Anthony, who started with Kingdom in 2022, received all security guard training over Zoom.
Court documents also show that a Kingdom executive said that, prior to Brown's killing, "Walgreens store management at individual stores were frequently putting pressure on security officers to violate KGPS policies."
Two weeks before the shooting, Kingdom security guards working at Northern California Walgreens were directed by Walgreens to begin stopping shoplifters, according to an email included in court documents.