AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
LINDSAY Myeni, the widow of Lindani, the South African man who was shot dead by the Honolulu police, in the US, is trying the piece together her husband’s last moments and is seeking justice for him.
Lindsay (29), who is now left to raise the couple’s two children, is trying to find out what happened in the 18 minutes that she spoke to her husband and he was shot four times by members of the Honolulu Police Department (HPD).
In an emotional Facebook post, Lindsay said:
“They shot my king
“I was with him at 7:30pm. He went for a drive to clear his mind after a fun family day. His green card interview was next week. I called and he said he was on his way home at 7:52p.
By 8:10p cops had shot him four times.
How can you justify that?!
“What happened in 18 MINUTES?? What do I tell my babies when they cry for him????
“He has my heart. I will never find a perfect love like him. He was indescribable. He’d grown into a noble man. Righteous but not self-righteous. Loving and wise. He was too good for this broken world.
“He was born at Queen Nandi hospital and passed at Queen Emma’s hospital. We need justice. They must release the body cams and show us what happened. Why are three trained officers afraid of one unarmed man? They just left me a widow at 29 with two babies in diapers, you gotta be f kidding me.”
HPD have released body cam footage from the officers. However, Luke Korkowski, Lindsay’s attorney, said the police released parts of the footage in an attempt to shape the narrative around the shooting.
Korkowski told Hawaii NewNow that the police were also not not telling the whole story.
The lawyer blamed the officers’ action on lack of training, saying that, among others, they failed to identify themselves to Lindani. He said he was disappointed in the way HPD is handling the case.
Korkowski told Hawaii NewsNow that the HPD released body camera footage on Friday, showing what they determined to be the only relevant portions of the incident. “HPD is clearly shaping a narrative and not telling the whole truth. And that’s disturbing,” he said.
He added: “You don’t control the situation by taking direction from someone who is not rational in that moment. And turning a corner, approaching somebody when you’ve got a gun drawn, failing to announce who you are, none of that makes any sense whatsoever.”
HPD’s Acting Deputy Chief Allan Nagata told Hawaii NewsNow that he was proud of the officers’ actions.
“The female was very frantic, I would have been shivering if I responded to that,” said Nagata. “And when the suspect approached the officer and attacked them, they were in a fight for their lives.”
In South Africa, locals have taken to social media, not only to express their shock and anger at Lindani’s killing but to raise funds to bring his body home to Empangeni, in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal.
