Vandals spray-painted graffiti across San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s home this past weekend, criticizing her and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins over their stances on the controversial killing of Banko Brown.
The Mayor’s Office confirmed the incident occurred Saturday, leaving the facade of her apartment and a neighboring property in the Lower Haight neighborhood covered in black spray paint. Other messages were scrawled on the sidewalk and street pavement. The messages included vulgar language directed at Breed and Jenkins, with one message on the garage of Breed’s home reading: “Get a life London yr a killer.”
Other tagging read: “F— Brooke Jenkins,” “Rest in peace Banko” and “ACAB,” an acronym for the phrase “all cops are bastards.”
Breed's office and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Jenkins’ office declined comment.
The district attorney’s decision last month not to press charges against Brown’s killer continues to be a source of contention for many who feel justice was not served.
Around 6:30 p.m. April 27, Walgreens security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, confronted 24-year-old Brown as the latter attempted to leave the Mid-Market drug store without paying for several items. Anthony punched Brown and wrestled with him before eventually opening fire on Brown, who later died at a nearby hospital. The Standard found that Walgreens security guards were instructed to take a more forceful approach to shoplifting in the weeks ahead of the shooting.
Jenkins determined that Anthony had reason to fear for his life and was justified in opening fire. However, several San Francisco supervisors vociferously disagreed, saying the video evidence of the shooting showed that Brown was not the aggressor and posed no deadly threat after he and the security guard broke free from a hand-to-hand struggle. Numerous protests were held after the release of video footage.
It’s possible state Attorney General Rob Bonta could review the case and reconsider charges against Anthony, but as of a month ago, Bonta’s office said it was not involved in the matter. Breed, who appointed Jenkins, told reporters she supported the district attorney’s decision not to file charges but would not be opposed to a state or federal investigation.
Saturday’s incident is far from the first time elected officials’ homes in San Francisco have been targeted. In 2020, protesters staged a “die-in” at the mayor’s home in an effort to force her hand to provide more vacant hotel rooms to homeless people in the first months of the pandemic.
In early 2021, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home was vandalized with spray paint, and a pig’s severed head was left in front of her garage. A far more serious intrusion occurred last fall, when a man broke into Pelosi’s home and bludgeoned her husband, Paul, with a hammer.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to note that the city had a policy to shelter homeless people in vacant hotel rooms prior to the 2020 protest at the mayor’s home.