Banko Brown's father speaks out about his killing; 'Like an old lynching'
SAN FRANCISCO -- The father of Banko Brown, the man shot dead by a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens store, spoke publicly about the killing for the first time Wednesday after retaining civil rights attorney John Burris.
Terry Brown agreed to an interview with CBS News Bay Area about District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' decision not to charge security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony in the killing, which has generated protests and calls for the California Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case.
Brown said that while he fully supports Banko's gender transition, for the purposes of his interview, he wished to refer to Banko as China Brown, saying, "she will always be my little girl."
Brown revealed for the first time that Banko was alive after being shot long enough to tell police where to find his father.
"She said her name, told police her name and gave them my number. I knew it was her. I broke down," said Brown. "It was the worst day of my life to hear that. I was screaming, yelling, 'No, no! This can't be true.'"
Brown waited days as leaders and activists demanded Jenkins release the Walgreens surveillance video. After the release, the images of Banko Brown in what appears to be in a chokehold before the fatal shot went viral.
Terry Brown says he isn't able to bring himself to watch the video, but he knows what it shows.
"I don't want that memory in my head," he said. "They say the way the video is it's like an old lynching or something. He beat her then shot her. I don't understand it.
Brown also knows the criticisms about Banko, and the problems of theft plaguing the Bay Area. But, he says of the security guard's actions, "That was too far. It went too far."
CBS News Bay Area uncovered that in the district attorney's own report that on the day Brown was killed, a directive had come from the security firm KGPS. The policy directs guards to, "actively work to retrieve or recover any stolen items once it was clear that the individual intended to leave the store without paying."
CBS News Bay Area reached out to the District Attorney's Office after Terry Brown's interview for Jenkins' response, and as of the publishing of this story, has not heard back.
