UPDATE: Kumanjayi Walker’s family and Yuendumu Elders have condemned the not guilty verdict handed down in Darwin today (11 March) by the jury in the murder trial of police officer Zachary Rolfe. 

They say the outcome is the direct result of racism in the court system and have provided a list of demands for sweeping changes to NT policing including a call for increased Aboriginal community control.

Mr Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, long-term advocate for no guns in remote communities, said it was ‘up to communities to protect ourselves from racist police’.

“We have waited for too long,” he said.

“We are calling on all yapa, yapa organisations and supporters to join us in demanding no more guns in remote communities. No more ex-military postings. Local police only, no external police units. Our Senior Elders and yapa police liaison officers must be decision-makers in policing matters, not ignored like they were the night Kumanjayi Walker was killed. Don’t be afraid, stand up and tell them what you need.“

The Walker family and Elders said the changes would move toward stopping police shootings of First Nations people.

Valerie Napaljarri Martin, deputy-chair of the Parumpurru Justice Committee elected at Yuendumu to instruct the Kumanjayi Walker matter said ‘the biggest problem we have in our community is racism in the police’.

“Racism kills. Racism killed Kumanjayi Walker. Now look at what happened during the trial? A young fella, the same age as Kumanjayi, was shot at six times in Palmerston by police! He is fighting for his life. The police have no respect at all.

“There is no justice in the kardiya system. We are feeling so empty that our beloved young fella has been taken away from us. Nothing can bring him back. We have been devastated by this injustice and the court has not fulfilled its responsibility to hold Rolfe accountable for what he has done. The court system has not recognised our needs as Warlpiri people.”

Spokesperson for the Walker family, Japangardi, said: “We thought we were coming to a neutral ground where we could have a multicultural jury instead of just white people. But still there was no yapa on the jury. We felt left out. Are we not part of Australia? We want yapa on the jury so that they can tell other jury members how we see it. It’s always kardiya people, seeing through their eyes but they need to see it through our eyes too.

“No police have ever been charged and convicted of any wrong doing in relation to any deaths in custody for yapa. There are over 500 deaths in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody that still need justice. We will still fight. We will appeal this court decision. To other families fighting for justice, we say never back down. Keep fighting until justice prevails”.

“Karrinjarla muwajarri meaning we want a ceasefire. No more guns in our communities. It must never happen again. The police must put down their weapons. We have been saying this since the beginning. We cannot walk around in fear in our own homes anymore.”

BREAKING NEWS: A Northern Territory police officer who shot and killed 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker during an attempted arrest at the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019 has been found not guilty.

Mr Walker was shot three times during a struggle, and prosecutors had argued that the second and third shots fired were not legally justified.

But the jury returned after seven hour to deliver a not guilty verdict to a murder charge, and the two alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violet act causing death.

Mr Walker’s relatives and community members were in the Darwin court to hear the verdict, while others watched a live-stream of the proceedings in Alice Springs.

The jury heard almost five weeks of evidence and testimony from more than 40 witnesses before retiring to deliberate at lunchtime on Thursday. 

During the trial, the court heard that Constable Rolfe had fired his first shot 60 seconds after finding Mr Walker at a home in the desert community of about 800 people. 

The shot hit Mr Walker in the back but did not kill him and he continued to wrestle with Rolfe’s partner while holding a pair of scissors in his right hand.

Mr Walker was held down and his right arm was beneath him when Rolfe fired two more shots from point-blank range 2.6 seconds later.

Prosecutors had argued that Constable Rolfe did not have an honest belief that the second and third shots were necessary and therefore was not acting reasonably and in good faith in the performance of his duties. 

They agreed that the first shot was legally justifiable because it came after Constable Rolfe was stabbed in the shoulder with a pair of scissors and while Mr Walker was on his feet and struggling with Constable Adam Eberl. 

But they argued that Mr Walker had been effectively restrained on the ground by Constable Eberl when Constable Rolfe fired his second shot 2.6 seconds after the first and a third shot 0.5 seconds after the second. 

Constable Rolfe’s legal team argued the officer, a former soldier, was acting in defence of himself and his partner and in line with his training and duties. 

Mr Walker died around an hour after the shooting, in the Yuendumu police station, where he was given first aid because health clinic staff had been evacuated earlier that day.

The 19-year-old was wanted by police because of an incident that took place three days prior, when he had confronted two local officers with an axe as they tried to arrest him for breaching a suspended sentence. 

Full report in the next edition of the Koori Mail.