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Coroner’s uncovering comes 5 years aft acquitted policeman Zachary Rolfe fatally changeable 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker.
Published On 7 Jul 2025
An Australian constabulary serviceman who changeable dormant an Indigenous teen was a racist drawn to “high adrenaline policing”, a landmark coronial enquiry has found.
Racist behaviour was besides “normalised” successful Zachary Rolfe’s Alice Springs constabulary station, said the 682-page findings released successful a ceremonial successful the distant outback town of Yuendumu successful cardinal Australia connected Monday.
The findings were delivered 5 years aft the shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker, starring to protests astir the country. But Rolfe was recovered not blameworthy of execution successful a proceedings successful the Northern Territory superior of Darwin successful 2022.
Walker was changeable 3 times during the attempted apprehension successful Yuendumu – 1 of 598 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who person died successful custody since 1991 erstwhile elaborate records began.
“I recovered that Mr Rolfe was racist,” said Northern Territory coroner Elisabeth Armitage, delivering her conclusions aft a astir three-year inquiry.
Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has handed down her Findings into the decease of Kumanjayi Walker #auslaw https://t.co/4uAEzIkwhd pic.twitter.com/hNb6UPnDUT
— NT Courts (@CourtsinNT) July 7, 2025
Rolfe, who was dismissed from the constabulary unit successful 2023 for reasons not straight related to the shooting, worked successful an organisation with the hallmarks of “institutional racism”, she said.
There was a “significant risk” that Rolfe’s racism and different attitudes affected his effect “in a mode that accrued the likelihood of a fatal outcome”, she said.
Walker’s household and assemblage volition ever judge racism played an “integral part” successful his death, the coroner said. “It is simply a taint that whitethorn stain the [Northern Territory] police.”
The coroner cited violative connection utilized successful a alleged awards ceremonial for the territory’s tactical police, describing them arsenic “grotesque examples of racism”.
“Over the decennary the awards were given, nary ailment was ever made astir them,” she said.
The policeman’s substance messages besides showed his attraction to “high adrenaline policing”, and his “contempt” for immoderate much elder officers arsenic good arsenic distant policing. These attitudes “had the imaginable to summation the likelihood of a fatal brushwood with Kumanjayi”, she said.
In a connection shared earlier the coroner released her findings, Walker’s household said the inquest had exposed “deep systemic racism wrong the NT police”.
“Hearing the inquest grounds confirmed our family’s content that Rolfe is not a ‘bad egg’ successful the NT Police force, but a grounds of a strategy that disregards and brutalises our people,” the household said successful the connection shared connected societal media.
“Crucially, the inquest heard grounds backing a instrumentality to afloat community-control, stating what yapa person ever known: erstwhile we tin self-determine our futures and self-govern our communities, our radical are stronger, our outcomes are better, our civilization thrives,” the connection said, referring to the Warlpiri people, besides known arsenic Yapa.
Armitage’s presumption was postponed past period aft 24-year-old Warlpiri antheral Kumanjayi White, who was besides from Yuendumu, died successful constabulary custody successful a supermarket successful Alice Springs.
White’s decease besides prompted protests and calls for an autarkic probe into his death.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies