San Francisco supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday calling on the district attorney to release security camera footage in the shooting death of Banko Brown.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins decided not to file criminal charges against the Walgreens security guard who pulled the trigger.
With no criminal charges filed, community members say they want to see videos of the incident to make up their own minds.
"When there is information that is being kept from the public, we feel like there's something amiss going on," San Francisco Democratic Party chairperson Honey Mahogany said. "It undermines our faith in local government."
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Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who represents the district the Walgreens is in, introduced the resolution calling on Jenkins to release the evidence. Co-sponsor Shamann Walton also sent a formal letter of inquiry to the DA with the same request.
Walton has been critical of the DA's decision not to press criminal charges.
"Videos get released all the time by police departments during investigations," he said. "It's important that the video be released so we can be transparent about what happened, what actions took place."
Jenkins has not released any evidence in the case because she says it's an ongoing and open investigation, but her office did release a response letter sent to Walton, saying she is under no legal obligation to release anything to the board of supervisors. She criticizes any political pressure, writing in part, "While your social media comments have pointed out that Banko Brown is African-American, they have failed to identify that the suspect in this case is also African-American. As you know, many historic injustices that our community has faced can be traced back to politically motivated prosecutions."
Jenkins has said she based her decision not to charge the guard in part on security camera videos and on interviews with the suspect and witnesses. She said the guard believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self defense.
The resolution carries no legal weight, but the shooting of Brown may still result in a new law in San Francisco.
“I will be calling for legislation to specifically prohibits security guards from drawing their weapon to protect property," said Supervisor Dean Preston.
The police department has said a theft was happening at the time of the fatal shooting. A source familiar with the investigation said Brown has shot in the chest.
Meanwhile, the Walgreens is currently closed and boarded up. It has been the scene of several protests since the shooting.
