MYENI CASE HIGHLIGHTS DANGER OF US POLICING
THE case of South African club rugby player, Lindani Myeni, who was shot dead by police in Hawaii, highlights the danger of US policing.
This comes in the wake of the guilty verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd on May 25 last year by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes in full view of onlookers.
A 12-member jury swiftly and unanimously found Chauvin guilty on all three counts he faced, following three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses. This rare guilty verdict against a police officer is considered by many, including US President Joe Biden, to be a milestone in the fight for justice and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of racial minorities.
“It was a murder in the full light of day, and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see,” Biden said.
The Prison Policy Initiative said that US police violence is a systemic problem and not simply incidental.
“There is no question that the number of police killings of civilians in the US – who are disproportionately black and other people of colour – are the result of policies and practices that enable and even encourage police violence,” the organisation said.
US police killed 1 099 people in 2019, while none of the other nine wealthy countries compared had more than 36 police killings in the most recent year with data. In England and Wales, only three people were killed by police in the same year, while in Japan there were only two police killings.
Even when you adjust for population size, then the US rate of 33.5 per 10 million people is over three times more than the next-highest rate, which is 9.8 per 10million people in Canada.
Honolulu Police acting deputy chief Allan Nagata defended his officers who were forced to use lethal force when Myeni allegedly attacked them, injuring three of their officers. Nagata said one of the officers who was assaulted by Myeni was in hospital recovering from his injuries.
The police had responded to a “robbery in progress” at a Nuuanu home after Myeni entered and began chatting with the homeowners, who were upset that he had come inside. Myeni then left the house and was outside near his car when the police responded.
The Honolulu police released body camera footage from two of the three police officers who responded to a call of a burglary in progress in the Hawaiian suburb.
“The footage you are about to see is from two of the three officers who responded. One of the officers did not activate his camera until after the shooting occurred. It is our hope that the footage that is captured will aid in understanding what transpired two nights ago.
“The investigation into this incident is continuing. Once completed it will be reviewed by the prosecutor’s office and the state law enforcement review board,” Nagata said.
Amnesty International in 2019 joined a growing list of countries warning travellers about the perils of gun violence in the US, while other countries have warned about the danger of confronting the police, especially if you are from a racial minority.
Police shootings of black men in the US prompted the Bahamas to issue a travel advisory: “Young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational, and co-operate,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.