A fight among family members, and some perceived disrespect from a pastor toward Banko Brown's recently incarcerated mother, led to a fracas at Third Baptist Church Thursday morning. And the funeral was, as a result, quickly wrapped up with no family members getting to speak.
The prominent Third Baptist Church, which remains one of the largest Black churches on the West Coast despite San Francisco's declining Black population, was chosen as the site of Brown's funeral. As the Chronicle reports, Brown attended Sunday school at the church in his youth.
The service was scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. Thursday, and photos from the Chronicle show pallbearers in red ties — Brown's favorite color — carrying the coffin inside.
Family dynamics that we're not privy to led to some shouting back and forth during beginning of the service. The Chronicle reports that supporters of Brown's mother, Kevinisha Henderson, were upset when a pastor presiding over the service acknowledged only Brown's father and stepmother, and not Henderson, who had traveled from Texas in order to attend.
It's not clear how things escalated, exactly, but NBC Bay Area's Sergio Quintana posted video to Twitter from inside the church showing what he described as "a shouting match... [that] nearly turned into a melee."
As the memorial service for Banko Brown started, it erupted into a shouting match between some of the people in attendance. It then nearly turned into a melee. pic.twitter.com/zBq99dkdgB
— Sergio Quintana (@svqjournalist) May 25, 2023
BREAKING: Arguments erupt and people take to their feet at Banko Brown's funeral just now.
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) May 25, 2023
People erupted in anger after a scripture reading acknowledged some of Banko's parents, but not all who played that role.
It has since calmed and the funeral resumed. pic.twitter.com/8imrCyzQyc
Footage from KRON4 appears to show Henderson standing up addressing the pastor, with others cheering her on, before the initial confrontation begins.
BREAKING: Arguments erupt and people take to their feet at Banko Brown's funeral just now.
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) May 25, 2023
People erupted in anger after a scripture reading acknowledged some of Banko's parents, but not all who played that role.
It has since calmed and the funeral resumed. pic.twitter.com/8imrCyzQyc
The pastor of Third Baptist, former SF Supervisor Rev. Amos Brown (no relation), tried to calm the crowd, as the Chronicle reports. "This is a sad day in the loss of Banko — it gives us pain and anguish," he said. "We’re feeling the tragic impact in our souls, and we invite you to simmer down and celebrate the life of one we love."
But simmer down they did not. And, ultimately, while there were other speakers scheduled, Rev. Brown reportedly told the crowd that he would be the only one to speak, and the funeral wrapped up after about a half an hour.
Outside the church, a cousin of Banko's with whom he had lived in Vallejo, Glacier Johnson, told the Chronicle, "Everyone is hurting, it’s just misdirected."
KQED's Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez posted video of the crowd after the funeral let out, adding that people did calm down during the service and "There were smiles and some laughter at what Rev. Amos Brown called a 'celebration of life' for Banko Brown."
Afterward, friends and family consoled each other. There were smiles and some laughter at what Rev. Amos Brown called a "celebration of life" for Banko Brown
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) May 25, 2023
It's important to show full context. No situation is eve one thing, and people aren't defined by their toughest moments. https://t.co/TujeifCW96 pic.twitter.com/D4VJ5ypmjf
Wounds remain raw, even among those who aren't related to Banko Brown, after the April 27 shooting that took his life outside a mid-Market Walgreens. The case has sparked outrage over the fact that District Attorney Brooke Jenkins declined to file charges against the shooter, 33-year-old private security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony. Anthony claimed he acted in self-defense, and video evidence shows that the pair engaged in a physical altercation just before the shooting took place — after Anthony tried to stop Brown from exiting the store with $14 worth of stolen candy.
On Wednesday, we learned that state Attorney General Rob Bonta and his office would be reviewing the evidence in the case.
Mission Local has some more complete coverage of the funeral service and Rev. Brown's remarks. He reportedly blamed the "anarchy" that had occurred on society at large, saying, "This is what America has done to you." Brown spoke of going to Burlingame yesterday to meet with an eight-year-old Black girl in Burlingame whose classmate a white boy, had "had called her trash, and spat in her face."
"He got it from somewhere," said Rev. Brown, per Mission Local. "He got it from home. He got it from society. America has treated us as if we were trash."
Brown also quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said, "Many of us die with our music still in us." Banko, he said, died with "music still in him."
Previously: CA Attorney General Agrees to Look Into Banko Brown Shooting Case