Prosecutors seek death penalty in Idaho murder case
Bryan Kohberger is accused in the fatal stabbing of four Idaho university students last year.
2023-06-27 06:50
Anger as security guard avoids charges despite video showing him shooting dead transgender activist
The San Francisco district attorney has released the surveillance footage that showed the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old transgender activist accused of shoplifting by a Walgreens security guard. The video was released on Monday following a public outcry after it was announced that the district attorney won't file charges against the guard, identified as Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony. The footage shows the guard assaulting unarmed Banko Brown on 27 April before fatally shooting him outside a downtown Walgreens. Brown was a budding community organiser known for helping Black transgender youth and reportedly struggled with homelessness. Last week, the board of supervisors unanimously approved a resolution urging district attorney Brooke Jenkins's office to release more evidence. She cited self-defence in her decision not to charge the guard. The video, which does not have sound, shows Brown heading for the door with a bag in his hand when he is intercepted by the guard. He then pushes and repeatedly punches Brown in the head before pinning him to the ground. The scuffle continues when after a point, the guard lifts Brown into the air. When Mr Anthony lets Brown go, he picks up the bag and moves to exit the store. He turns around and appears to step toward Mr Anthony, at which point the guard lifts his gun and shoots once, sending Brown falling back onto the ground. Mr Anthony, who was initially arrested and later released, told the police that he asked Brown to put the items back, but Brown was aggressive and fought to keep them. He said he told Brown he would let him go if he calmed down, and that Brown kept saying he was going to stab him. However, a knife was not found on Brown. Mr Anthony argued that he let Brown go, but he drew his gun and kept it pointed at the ground just in case Brown attacked. He said he shot when Brown advanced. The case was discharged by the district attorney on 1 May. The guard in interviews also misgendered Brown, referring to him as “she” and “her”. San Francisco supervisor Shamann Walton said in a statement that the video does not show justification for the shooting. Mr Walton said he plans to join board president Aaron Peskin in calling on the state attorney general for an independent review of the prosecutor’s decision. But Ms Jenkins, who has been criticised for handling the case, said that even after seeking more evidence, there was nothing to rebut the guard’s claim of self-defense. She pleaded with viewers to review all the evidence, including witness and police reports, given that the video footage lacks sound. "There will be a temptation, as human beings, to only view the video footage of this incident and nothing else," Ms Jenkins said. "We are accustomed to seeing videos online, and that often is what captures our attention rather than going the extra step to look deeper." Community members on Monday afternoon gathered outside Walgreens to protest against Ms Jenkins's decision to not file charges. Activists, politicians and others who reviewed the released footage of Brown’s death alleged that the video proves the security guard did not act in self-defence as suggested by the district attorney. Demonstrators with banners that read ”Justice for Banko Brown” demanded that Ms Jenkins press charges against the guard. "I was sad, but now I'm mad. I'm so mad. He was on the way to the centre the day he died," Tumani Drew, a friend of Brown's, told The San Francisco Standard. "All we know is that Banko was leaving the store. Anthony had no right to take his life." Brown worked as a community organiser for the Young Women’s Freedom Center – a nonprofit that provides support for young women and trans youths. "We do not need to see the video to know that Banko Brown’s killing was unjustified. Armed force is not a justified response to poverty,” said Julia Arroyo, the centre’s co-executive director. "We must live with the sobering reality that he was killed for no other cause but $14." Read More Transgender woman jailed for rape sent to male prison Payback? Project funds axed after Kansas lawmaker defies governor on abortion, trans rights Wave of anti-transgender bills in Republican-led states divides US faith leaders
2023-05-16 12:45
India Club in London: Iconic restaurant to shut after 70 years
The India Club in London, which was set up in the 1950s, is set to close in September.
2023-08-29 05:21
Fire razes school dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 children, many of them Indigenous
Authorities say a fire raced through a dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 students and injuring several others at a government boarding school serving remote, mostly Indigenous villages
2023-05-23 04:22
Sexual assault claims cast light on Australia's macho politics
Australia has allowed a sexist culture to fester inside its parliament, a prominent lawmaker has told AFP, as sexual assault allegations again ring through...
2023-06-19 15:50
Greece faces new heatwave as wildfires rage
Greece braced for a new wave of soaring temperatures Tuesday, as wildfires raged on two...
2023-07-25 15:16
US mortgage delinquency rates fall to all-time low
By Safiyah Riddle U.S. mortgage delinquency rates fell to a record low in the second quarter due to
2023-08-11 04:52
IShowSpeed calls cops on children for mocking him during livestream: 'Kids, you are going to jail'
This comes after IShowSpeed was involved in an embarrassing moment when he accidentally flashed his genitals on the livestream
2023-09-17 13:49
Luke List makes 45-foot birdie to win 5-way playoff at Sanderson Farms
Luke List made the most of his second chance and won the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi
2023-10-09 08:18
Third Republican primary debate to be in Miami in early November
By Nathan Layne and Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON The third Republican primary debate in the race to be the
2023-09-15 06:20
Tasers, taunts, torment: How 6 White officers subjected 2 Black men to hours of grueling violence, and then tried to cover it up
On the evening of January 24, three sheriff's deputies in Rankin County, Mississippi, received a group text message from another deputy on the same shift: "Are y'all available for a mission?"
2023-08-13 16:22
Biden's hopes for establishing Israel-Saudi relations could become a casualty of the new Mideast war
Less than three weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat beside President Joe Biden and marveled that a “historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia” seemed within reach
2023-10-10 12:17
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