WARNING: This article contains sensitive content, including the name of a deceased Aboriginal individual.
Almost a year has passed since the tragic passing of a young Aboriginal man with disabilities, prompting an independent review of the police officers’ actions in his detainment.
The incident involved Kumanjayi White, aged 24, who died in May 2025 at a supermarket in Alice Springs after being restrained by two undercover officers. His death incited widespread outrage and led to nationwide protests demanding an impartial inquiry.
Despite these calls, the Northern Territory Police refused to remove the officers from duty or release the CCTV footage of the event, despite appeals from Mr. White’s family, spearheaded by his grandfather, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves.
An external police force from another state was tasked with reviewing the investigation into the use of force as authorities prepare to decide on potential charges for the involved officers.
The Northern Territory Police have confirmed to AAP that the independent review concerning the use of force has been finalized and was received on Wednesday.
“This report is currently being assessed and will form part of an evidentiary brief that is supplied to the Department Public Prosecutions,” the statement said on Friday.
Mr White, who had a mental disability and was in care, died on May 27 in the Alice Springs supermarket’s confectionery aisle.
Police allege he was shoplifting and assaulted a security guard.
NT shadow attorney-general Chansey Paech this week wrote to Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro seeking clarity around the investigation, given the family’s concerns over the time it has taken.
In the federal senate this week, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said NT Police had made no prosecutions and given no resolution to Mr White’s family.
“It follows a long, long history of violent police investigating themselves,” she said.
In October, NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage expressed her condolences to Mr White’s family, saying the inquest was a “slow but careful and considered process”.
“We will continue to work consistently and thoroughly to ensure there is a full investigation and that as much of the truth can be uncovered as possible,” she told an Alice Springs courtroom.
Mr White was originally from the same outback Yuendumu community that lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019, when he was shot by then-NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a botched arrest.
Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges over the death in 2022 but Ms Armitage said in her coronial findings she could not exclude the possibility racist attitudes contributed to his decision to pull the trigger.
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