A jury has found NT Constable Zachary Rolfe not guilty of murdering Kumanjayi Walker after he fatally shot the Aboriginal teenager during an outback arrest.

March 11, 2022

KEY QUOTES AFTER NT POLICEMAN ACQUITTED OF MURDER:

* “A lot of people are hurting today, Kumanjayi’s family and his community, and it did not need to get to this point, so I am going to leave this space for them.” – Constable Zachary Rolfe

* “We are all in so much pain, particularly our young men. They have struggled. They have been scared but still, they respected this process and so has our whole community. This process has been so new to us and we have had a suppression order in place to stop us saying what we wanted to. To stop our truth. We have been respectful of that but still, we have been let down.” – Mr Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez Brown.

“Throughout this trial, Kumanjayi has been depicted solely as a dangerous individual. He has been criticised and picked apart by people who did not know him. They saw only his flaws and wish to put him at trial for his own death and that is disgusting. He as a traditional young Aboriginal man who loved hunting and being out on country.”

* “The justice system has done what was required of it. Twelve of our fellow Territorians have considered all of the evidence before them and delivered a verdict. It is a time for healing.” – NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner

* “There are no winners in this case and a young man died and that is tragic but at the same time Zach Rolfe was wrongly charged in the first place, it was an appalling investigation and that is very much regrettable.” – Defence lawyer David Edwardson QC

* “We are all so full of anger and grief. There has been no respect for our customary law or cultural ways of dealing with when someone kills another person. We know how to deal with it … but we are being disrespected. This is a racist system. (Rolfe) was on bail for two years on full pay … being treated like a hero.” – Parumpurru Justice Committee deputy chair Valerie Napaljarri

* “There is never any winners in circumstance such as this. We ask that everybody that is mourning is allowed to mourn respectfully. The coronial inquest that is due later this year will oblige us to maintain our level of respect and not continue as others have to prefer opinion and views in the absence of facts. We respect the integrity of court processes.” – NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker

* “Today, thankfully we have seen justice prevail. Obviously this has been a very traumatic two-plus years for a lot of people. It was a tragic day, a young man lost his life but let’s not forget Constable Rolfe and (Sergeant Eberl) were set upon viciously. It was a travesty Constable Rolfe was charged so quickly and without thorough investigation and we will have more to say about that in the coming days.” – NT Police Association president Paul McCue