Man Apologized Before Honolulu Police Shot Him, Video Reveals
An unarmed Black Honolulu man’s last words were an apology before he was shot dead by police in April, doorbell camera footage made public by attorneys for his family shows.
The video provides more information about the events that unfolded before Lindani Myeni’s deadly encounter with law enforcement. According to the Associated Press, the footage shows the man arriving at a house, taking off his shoes, entering, and then quickly leaving after his presence confused the property’s occupants. He also repeatedly apologized for being in the space.
Subsequently, Honolulu police responded to the home and claim Myeni violently attacked them, leaving one hospitalized with a concussion. They also released short clips of body camera footage of the man ignoring commands to get on the ground outside the home he entered. A stun gun was then fired by an officer and either malfunctioned or had no effect on Myeni.
Police video, according to the AP, shows an officer firing several gunshots before saying, “Police!” Now-retired chief Susan Ballard had previously remarked that Myeni’s race was not a factor.
After Myeni’s killing at the hands of police, his widow filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging officers were motivated by racial discrimination because her unarmed South African husband was Black. Lindsay Myani says she and her husband moved to Hawaii, where she grew up, because she believed Hawaii’s diversity would make it one of the safest U.S. states to raise their two Black children, the AP reports.
In addition to the doorbell camera footage, lawyers for Myeni released a statement saying Honolulu police “tried to convince the public that this was a burglary and that Lindani Myeni was acting erratically; but the doorbell video we have now obtained from the owner shows that HPD knew all along these stories were untrue.”
The statement added: “We have also compelled the City to turn over unredacted body cam footage in its original format, producing much better quality audio and images than the version that HPD played for the press on April 16, 2021.”
According to depositions in the wrongful death lawsuit, the man and woman staying at the home were tourists and staying in the multi-unit dwelling. Lawyers for Myeni’s family assert that the woman in the home pretended to make a phone call while Myeni was outside, claiming someone had broken into their home. She then called 911 and said to the operator that the man had no weapons in his hand.
Additionally, Myeni is heard in the video outside of the home repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry,” before putting on his shoes and leaving.
When police arrived, the woman is heard yelling, “That’s him!”
“Get on the ground now,” one officer is heard saying, according to the AP.
“Who are you?” Myeni responds.
Lawyers for the family say Myeni wouldn’t have known the people shining bright lights in his eyes were police and he likely mistook the house for a similar looking dwelling that houses a temple next door that is open to the public.
A YouTube page titled Justice for Lindani Myeni has been established and features the doorbell camera footage as well as a recording of the previously-released 911 call.
Unredacted body camera footage for the period of time after the shooting is still being evaluated, the lawyers say.
