No charges will laid against Hawaii police officers who shot SA-born rugby player Lindani Myeni dead in April, according to reports.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Honolulu prosecutor Steve Alm told Hawaii News Now that a months-long investigation found that the fatal shooting was justified.
Honolulu police shot said they were responding to a 911 burglary call when they shot Myeni. Police bodycam footage showed Myeni attacking officers.
However, doorbell footage suggested that he thought he was visiting a temple and was at the wrong address.
Myeni’s wife Lindsay alleged in a wrongful death lawsuit that police were motivated by racial discrimination against an unarmed black man.
But the investigation found that the officers involved had “ended up trying to use multiple non-lethal, non-deadly force methods before they used service firearms”, Alm told Hawaii News Now.
He said the first responding officer fired in self-defence, and that the second officer fired in defence of the first officer. The investigation also found no “evidence race played a role in the case”.
Graphic police violence.
New video of evidence not released to public until now! On Apr 14, Honolulu Police killed Lindani Myeni, an unarmed man. HPD held evidence until judge released. Video contains security cam footage showing very different story.https://t.co/5YMbb0Doup
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza demanded justice for the death of Lindani Myeni, who was allegedly shot by US police. She said the US government should “hang its head in shame”.
However, the Myeni’s family’s lawyer, Bridget Morgan-Bickerton, said in a statement that the family’s civil case would not be affected by the decision.
“We continue to move ahead. In the civil case, we will address the central questions that Mr Alm appears to have avoided completely. When you avoid addressing the very first wrongful act committed, your analysis of what comes afterwards should not be accepted by the public.