HONOLULU — The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday approved $1 million to settle a case lawsuit By the family of a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police.
The fatal shooting of Errammber Sikap in 2021 came amid a national reckoning over police use of force, but the case also highlighted… Racism towards Micronesians in Hawaii.
Their attorney, Eric Seitz, said that if the Sicaps had sued the city and the police officers had gone to trial, they would have sought between $8 million and $10 million in general damages.
“Shooting a child in the back of the head eight times when he was unarmed and posed no threat to police officers would likely have upset a lot of jurors,” he said.
Seitz said the family accepted a much lower sum because of the “undercurrent of racism” in the case.
“If you look at the social media posts about this, there’s a lot of stuff about ‘dirty Micronesians’ and ‘they got what they deserve’… which, you know, is very concerning in our society,” he added. “But he’s there. He’s a real worker.”
Sicap’s family is from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, but he was born in Guam, a US territory.
Honolulu Corporation Counsel Dana Viola told the council that the settlement is reasonable because it prevents officers from testifying, which could be used against them in a future criminal trial because there is no statute of limitations for murder.
Interim Police Chief Rade Vanic said the department supports the settlement.
“Our officers have served this community with professionalism and courage, and they deserve full protection of their rights,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a statement. “This settlement allows the city to move forward while standing firm in support of the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department.”
At the time of the shooting, police said Sicap was driving a stolen Honda linked to a robbery, wallet snatching, car theft and armed robbery and led officers on a chase.