SF still reeling from Brown killing

by John Ferrannini

The Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club held an emotional meeting Tuesday night, just hours after San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced a resolution asking the California and federal justice departments to investigate the killing of Banko Brown, the 24-year-old unarmed Black trans man gunned down by a security guard at a Market Street Walgreens.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ decision not to file charges against the security guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, has been a political lightning rod in the city. Jenkins released the store video and other materials related to the killing Monday, leading to fresh calls that she mismanaged the case.

“This is not who we are,” Peskin said at the supervisors’ meeting. “In the 23 years since I was first elected, I haven’t experienced anything like this. This is … what we see on TV in states like Georgia, not in cities like San Francisco.”

The resolution was co-sponsored by District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton. It will be voted on by the board May 23.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and United States Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. “Izzy” Ramsey have not publicly commented on the Brown case. The federal justice department can get involved if there’s evidence of a hate crime or civil rights violation. The state justice department investigates all police shootings of unarmed civilians. In this case, Brown’s killer is not a sworn law enforcement officer.

The attorney general can get involved in cases involving a conflict of interest, but Bonta did not do so last year when Jenkins asked that two cases – one involving the mayor’s brother, and another involving the alleged killers of a cousin of Jenkins’ husband – be transferred.

The attorney general’s office referred questions to the DA’s office. The federal justice department declined comment.

The Milk club meeting, held at the Milk cafe in the Mission neighborhood, was to feature Brown’s father Terry, but he canceled at the last minute, according to club President Jeffery Kwong.

However, a friend of Brown’s who worked with him at the Young Women’s Freedom Center, Juju Pikes-Prince, did show up. When asked what would bring justice, Pikes-Prince began to sob.

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by Matthew S. Bajko

Oasis nightclub owner D’Arcy Drollinger will serve as San Francisco’s inaugural drag laureate. Her tenure in the first-in-the-world position coincides with her working to open a film production studio in the city where she plans to shoot her new feature motion picture.

Mayor London Breed will officially intro- duce Drollinger as the city’s first drag laureate Thursday afternoon at the LGBT Community Center. As an ambassador for the drag community and LGBTQ nightlife, Drollinger will serve for the next 18 months.

“It is pretty awesome. I am super proud and excited to, sort of, help define what this role is and does,” Drollinger told the Bay Area Reporter during a May 15 phone interview to talk about being selected. “It just makes me want to be that much more fabulous and sparkle that much more harder.”

Two weeks ago, prior to her leaving for a trip to Israel, Breed called Drollinger to inform her of her decision.

“I know, getting a call coming from the cellphone of the mayor is pretty cool,” said Drollinger, 54, who was born in San Francisco and, at age 3, first dressed up in drag as the beloved nanny character Mary Poppins.

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