This is by no means the end of the legal recriminations in the fatal shooting of Banko Brown by a Walgreens security guard, but the guard in question has been fined $1,500 by the state’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
Yesterday was the three-month anniversary of the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Banko Brown in an alleged Walgreens shoplifting incident where the security guard opened fire. San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins’s decision to not file charges against the security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony set off a number of protests, though Jenkins stood resolute in that decision.
But Anthony is facing some consequences, as KTVU reports that the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services has issued Anthony a $1,500 fine for a few infractions discovered in the incident.
In a July 24 citation order, the bureau said Anthony was not wearing “bureau-approved patches on each shoulder that read ‘private security’ and included the name of the company” Anthony was working for, Manteca-based Kingdom Group Protective Services. The bureau also cited Anthony for “carrying a concealed firearm in a zippered pouch on the tactical vest he was wearing over his sweatshirt.”
The Chronicle adds that Anthony was carrying the concealed weapon without a concealed weapon permit. That may raise more questions about why DA Jenkins didn’t file charges, if Anthony was indeed in violation of concealed carry laws. But again, Jenkins’s office seems to have moved on from this matter.
The Bureau of Security and Investigative Services is not just punching down on the guard Anthony. They also fined Kingdom Group Protective Services $5,000 for failing to submit an incident report within the required seven days, and having incomplete information on Anthony’s completion of training courses. And probably more significantly from a financial standpoint, Walgreens cut ties with Kingdom Group in May.
But the Banko Brown case has certainty not blown over. State Attorney General Rob Bonta is conducting his own review of the matter, so criminal charges are still a possibility. And Brown’s family has retained famed civil rights attorney John Burris, who is bringing civil suits against Walgreens, Kingdom Group, and Anthony. Given Burris’s track record in civil suits, we could see settlements with Banko Brown’s family that are vastly larger than these $1,500 or $5,000 fines from a state agency.
Related: Banko Brown’s Family Suing Walgreens, Security Firm, and Security Guard for Wrongful Death [SFist]
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist