A woke San Francisco lawmaker has been slammed after pushing for legislation to ban store security guards from drawing their guns after a trans shoplifter was killed.
Dean Preston, who is an attorney and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, caused a stir as he spoke about the death of unarmed Banko Brown, 24, who was shot by Walgreens security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony.
A murder charge against him was dropped after the city’s DA ruled the killing was self-defense, because Anthony feared being stabbed.
Preston said: ‘Today at the Board of Supervisors I will be calling for legislation to specifically prohibit security guards from drawing their weapons to protect property.
‘Human life is more important than property. We need to change our local law so that security guards cannot un-holster their weapons just to protect property.’
He doubled down on his comments today, writing on Twitter: ‘Our proposal to fix San Francisco’s strange and possibly illegal law that allows a security guard to draw their gun to protect “person and/or property” should not be controversial.’
The San Francisco lawmaker’s comments were faced with backlash.
Dean Preston said: ‘Today at the Board of Supervisors I will be calling for legislation to specifically prohibit security guards from drawing their weapons to protect property. Human life is more important than property. We need to change our local law so that security guards cannot un-holster their weapons just to protect property’
Preston, on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, caused backlash after making the comments online following the death of Banko Brown
Pictured: Banko Brown who was shot during an altercation at a Walgreens store in San Francisco
One person said: ‘This is basically incitement to robbery.’
Another said: ‘In SF they’re called insecurity guards now,’ while another chimed in ‘There won’t be any businesses left in SF to rob soon.’
Other people online questioned whether the lawmaker would be so brazen if it was his property on the line. One person said: ‘Wonder what happens when they show up at his house? Hypothetically of course.
‘Does he have armed security or a personally owned gun in his house?’
Another called for Preston’s resignation: ‘Glad to know you continue to place a higher value on the lives of criminals than on the employees and citizens that are being violently threatened, harrassed, and attacked for simply trying to work at a low salary job or shop without threat of violence. You should resign.’
And one person on social media added: ‘Thieves decide your property is worth more than their own life. Why not actually prosecute thieves as a deterrent rather than try to find new laws for law abiding citizens?!’
Others were supporting Preston. One person on Twitter said: ‘Amazing! This is just what California needed to put a nail in its coffin. Sign the law!’
Another said: ‘I get this, 100%. But why not also recognize that property crime is an order of magnitude worse in the bay area (car break ins, store theft etc.) than most other cities?
‘And pair this legislation with other ability to enforce against these property crimes? Life is most important – but let’s also recognize that property crime makes this city specifically less liveable for people and businesses.’
Security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony has also spoken out for the first time following the ordeal.
Speaking to The San Francisco Standard, Anthony said: ‘[I’m] still dealing with it, still don’t understand and don’t have the time to reflect.
‘It’s not like I go through this many times. This is a very life-changing matter.’
Anthony pointed to the pressure that security guards are under during these types of confrontations, saying: ‘This is important for more people to be more aware of,’ he said. It was happening too frequently.
‘It’s a lot to deal with. It’s a lot of pressure. A person can only take so much. When you are limited to certain options, something will happen.’
‘Who has my back? Nobody. You are left with no support. It’s a frightening feeling with a lot of people around you.’
Floral tributes and candles where left in memory of Banko
Brown was found with gunshot wounds and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died following the incident.
Anthony was originally booked on suspicion of murder the next day, but then released without charge after the District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Anthony was in ‘mortal danger’ and ‘acted in self-defense’.
The decision to drop the charges against Anthony has angered protestors and at a meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, activists held up signs reading ‘Justice for Banko Brown’.
One protestor, who identified herself as Lia McGeever, erupted into a scream over the death of Brown.
She said: ‘I hate a lot of people on this board for the reasons that led up to Banko Brown’s death.
‘There’s a lot of performative people on this board who will say one thing and support black people, homeless people, trans people, and then immediately stab you in the face — being racist, transphobic, anti-homeless.
‘I don’t have any words prepared today. I just want you to feel our pain.
‘So, I am going to spend the next minute screaming cause that is what is going on in here.
‘That is what the trans genocide in this country, in this city, has brought me to.’
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