Walgreens security guard in San Francisco defends fatal shooting of trans-identifying shoplifting suspect: 'Who has my back? Nobody.'

The Walgreens security guard who reportedly shot and killed a shoplifting suspect in San Francisco late last month has come forward to defend his actions.

Just before 6:30 p.m. on April 27, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, was working a shift as a security guard at a Walgreens in downtown San Francisco when he spotted a person he believed was shoplifting. Anthony approached the suspect, later identified as 24-year-old Banko Brown, and their confrontation quickly turned hostile. According to reports, Brown began hitting Anthony and even "spat" on him.

Brown, who was reportedly "unarmed" at the time, even allegedly threatened to stab Anthony, though with what is unclear. Anthony subsequently ordered the suspect leave the store. When the suspect refused, Anthony gestured toward his weapon but did not point it, reports said.

However, Brown then made a move toward Anthony, who then reportedly grabbed his gun and shot the suspect. Brown was transported to a nearby hospital "with gunshot wounds," the Daily Mail claimed, but died shortly after arriving.

Anthony was initially arrested for Brown's murder, but he was released on Monday after District Attorney Brooke Jenkins opted not to file charges at this time. "We cannot bring forward charges when there is credible evidence of reasonable self-defense," Jenkins' office said in a statement. "Doing so would be unethical and create false hope for a successful prosecution." The statement reiterated that the security guard "believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense" in shooting Brown.

Anthony recently spoke with the San Francisco Standard to explain his version of events. "This is a very life-changing matter," he explained, stating that "[i]t's not like I go through this many times."

Anthony said that he and other security guards are under tremendous "pressure" to protect businesses in the face of rising crime. "This is important for more people to be more aware of," he said. "It was happening too frequently."

He then suggested that security guards have "limited" means of engaging with suspected shoplifters and often must make split-second decisions. "It's a lot to deal with. It's a lot of pressure. A person can only take so much," he said. "When you are limited to certain options, something will happen."

"Who has my back? Nobody," he continued. "You are left with no support."

After the shooting, Walgreens released a statement, offering condolences to Brown's family and said that the "safety" of all patrons and employees is its "top priority." "[V]iolence of any kind will not be tolerated in our stores," the statement continued. "We take this matter seriously and are cooperating with local authorities." Anthony worked for a private security firm, not Walgreens, and had a permit to carry the weapon while on duty, KPIX-TV reported.

Though Brown apparently posed a threat to the safety of Anthony and others in the store, many leftist activists in San Francisco have sided with the alleged shoplifter. "We all have made mistakes," said Barbara Brown, believed to be a relative. "We all have made decisions that we are not proud of." But whatever "mistakes" Brown may have made, Brown did not deserve "to be murdered," Barbara Brown added.

Brown was black and identified as transgender. It is believed that Brown was biologically female but presented as male. Other members of the so-called LGBTQ community in the area have expressed their outrage that Anthony, a black man working a blue-collar job, has not been charged for Brown's death.

One woman, Lia McGeever, let out a feral, high-pitched scream for 15 seconds during a board of supervisors meeting earlier this week so that those in attendance and tuning in on livestream could "feel" the "pain" experienced by trans-identifying people like Brown. "That is what the trans genocide in this country, in this city, has brought me to," McGeever said.

On Friday, D.A. Jenkins clarified that the shooting remains "an ongoing investigation" and that Anthony may still face charges at some point. "While we opted not to charge this case earlier this week when we discharged it, we asked SFPD to conduct further investigation," she said. "It's still an ongoing investigation, still an open case, so I'm not yet at the point (when) I can publicly reveal all of the facts."

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