The Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) is a political and social justice coalition working in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
The organization was founded in 2003 by Reverend Edward Pinkney, a Baptist minister, to protest the death of Terrance Shurn, an African American man killed during a pursuit by the Benton Harbor Police.
[1] Since its inception, the organization has protested against perceived wrongdoings by police in the area, and against developments they believe displace the city's African American community.
BANCO was founded by Reverend Edward Pinkney, a Baptist minister, to protest the June 16, 2003 death of a 28-year-old African American, Terrance Shurn, while being pursued by Benton Harbor police.
In 2012, BANCO participated in a protest against a Senior PGA Championship event held at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores.
[1] Following an investigation by the Benton County Sheriff’s Department, Pinkney was arrested for giving valuable consideration to influence the manner of voting by a person, influencing a person voting an absent voter ballot, and three counts of possessing absent voter ballots.
[9]: 3 In 2008, Pinkney was jailed for violating probation after writing an article in the People’s Tribune, a Chicago newspaper, highly critical of the Judge who sentenced him.
[9]: 34 Pinkney also invoked a Biblical curse to condemn the judge, writing "The Lord shall smite thee with consumption and with a fever and with an inflammation and with extreme burning.
[5] One detractor said that the organization wanted to elect more effective leaders for the branch, claiming that Pinkney had overseen a sharp decline in membership.
[13] In November 2014, Pinkney was convicted of the five felony forgery charges, but found not guilty of the six counts of false certification of recall petitions.
[17] In May 2018, Michigan Supreme Court overturned the convictions, stating that felony forgery is intended to be a penalty rather than a chargeable offense.