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Honolulu stands by officers involved in Myeni shooting

City prosecutor justifies shooting of Lindani Myeni, with no charges to be filed on police officers involved

July 1, 2021
Richard Springorum 2 minutes read
Widow Lindsay Myeni with her late husband Lindani Photo: Lindsay Myeni/Facebook

FAMILY and friends of Lindani Myeni were dealt a bitter blow yesterday (Wednesday) after Honolulu City Prosecutor Steve Alm declared the shooting justified.

In an hour-long news conference, Alm detailed why the months-long investigation by his office reached this conclusion.

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He further announced that no charges would be brought against the officers involved in the shooting.

‘I bumped my head, backed into a car, took my sick babies to the hospital, and the officers who murdered my husband got off with no criminal charges’, said Lindsay Myeni.

‘This marks one of the lowest days in my life.’

‘Regardless of these painful trials, everything is going to be okay eventually.’

During the press conference, Alm used a PowerPoint presentation and the police bodycam footage to show what happened before, during and after the shooting.

He used this evidence to make his point that the officers had no choice but to fatally shoot Myeni after multiple failed attempts to subdue him using other means.

Alm stated that this was not a hate crime. He supported the officers by stating that they used self defence against a man who was physically bigger and stronger than them.

Among the key details highlighted from the PowerPoint presentation were: 

• Myeni was acting strangely before the shooting, Alm said, but knew that officers were responding to the scene and was heard saying he ‘was not afraid’ of police 
• While unarmed, Myeni was apparently much stronger than any of the officers individually 
• He had been a professional athlete and Alm said lives were at risk during the incident 
• The officer who sustained the worst injuries, including a serious concussion, has not returned to work 
• Alm said Myeni was punching officers even after being told to get on the ground, being shot with a Taser and shot once with a police firearm 
• He was subsequently shot three more times. 
 
Alm’s decision to declare the shooting justified comes at a delicate time for policing on the islands of Hawaii, and amid a national conversation about how police use force. 
The city prosecutor has pursued charges against officers in a separate shooting in April, in which a teenager was killed. 
Alm declined to take any questions on that case on Wednesday as litigation is ongoing.

 

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July 1, 2021
Richard Springorum 2 minutes read
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