WARNING: This story contains an image of an Aboriginal person who has died.
The coroner concluded that the former police officer who shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote area exhibited racist behavior, which was indicative of an institutional culture that accepted racism.
Kumanjayi Walker was shot at close range three times by then-constable Zachary Rolfe in a home located in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019.
Today, coroner Elisabeth Armitage handed down her findings following a years-long inquest into Walker’s death.
Releasing a 600-page report, the coroner stated she could not dismiss the possibility that Rolfe’s racist tendencies could have been a factor contributing to the 19-year-old’s death.
“That I cannot exclude that possibility is a tragedy for Kumanjayi’s family and community, who will always believe that racism played an integral part in his death, and is a taint that may stain the NT Police,” she said.
Judge Armitage said Walker’s death was avoidable and a case of “officer-induced jeopardy”, a circumstance where an officer “needlessly put themselves in danger, making themselves and others vulnerable and creating a situation that justifies the use of deadly force”.
But Rolfe was not just “a bad apple”, Judge Armitage said, he benefited from working in an organisation with “the hallmarks of institutionalised racism”.
“His racist messages were not mere aberrations â they were, at least in part, reflective of a work culture that tolerated racism,” she said, referring to texts sent between Rolfe and colleagues in the police force, littered with racist language.
The failure of the Northern Territory Police to properly supervise or “rein in” Rolfe’s behaviour, including an attraction to adrenaline, a lack of discipline and contempt for authority and women emboldened his approach, the coroner said.
The community is still grieving, with Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown saying his death has devastated the community.
“We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come,” she said.
13YARN 13 92 76, Lifeline 13 11 14
