Outrage in South Africa Over Death of Black Man by US Police

The death of Lindani Myeni at the hands of police in Hawaii caused outrage among South Africans who denounced the event as a hate crime.

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A week after the death of the South African citizen in Honolulu, public figures in his country intensified their criticism of the U.S. police and backed the Myeni's family's version that his race was the main trigger for his death.

"Now if they say, sir, excuse me but we're investigating a burglary, can you stand still, can you show us your hands, and don't make a move we are the police, that's a very different story," Lindsay Myeni, the mother of the deceased's two sons, told SABC public television.

"But you can hear it in the tone of the officer addressing a black man, treating him like he is nothing, 'get on the ground' - not even worth being given the information that I am a police officer," she added, confirming that the Myeni family is preparing a "wrongful death" complaint against the Hawaii police.

Young people from the African National Congress (ANC), the party that fought against apartheid under Nelson Mandela's leadership, protested against the assassination of Myeni in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, where they also demanded answers about the repatriation of his body.

On Friday, young people from the African National Congress (ANC), the party in which Nelson Mandela was a member, protested against the assassination of Myeni in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, where they also demanded answers about the repatriation of his body.

Myeni died on the night of April 14 as a result of police actions in Honolulu, the city where the South African citizen had been living since the beginning of the year. The police claim that he was trying to break into a house and attacked the officers. The family, however, rejected the official version and indicated that the alleged house is a tourist accommodation, which people regularly pass through.

In images recorded by police cameras, a nervous person can be heard directing the officers towards Myeni, who is suddenly surrounded by officers and pointed with flashlights.

The policemen, who did not identify themselves as such, shout at the young man to get down on the ground. Myeni, however, reacted violently until they shot him. His relatives say that his reaction was the normal defensive reaction of a citizen who is suddenly surrounded by strangers.