The first response team officer to testify in Constable Zachary Rolfe’s murder trial has told the jury he cannot recall seeing a plan by superiors for the arrest of teenager Kumanjayi Walker.
Constable Zachary Rolfe and other members of his team were deployed onto Yuendumu’s streets by the local officer-in-charge four hours earlier than agreed,a court has heard.
Two young Australian men,one alive and one dead,have become symbols of incompatible ideals of justice.
Sergeant Julie Frost had to request a specialist team from Alice Springs,which is how Constable Zachary Rolfe came to be face to face with Kumanjayi Walker.
Confronting body-worn video of the night of Kumanjayi Walker was shot dead by a white police officer captures the anxiety of the Yuendumu community and the chaotic attempt at arrest.
Body-worn video of Senior Constable Chris Hand,with Lanyon Smith,at the home of Lottie Robertson after the axe incident on Nov 6,2019.
Body-worn video footage of Senior Constable Lanyon Smith from"the axe incident"in Yuendumu three days before Kumanjayi Walker was shot dead (Nov 6,2019).
Kumanjayi Walker waved a hatchet and charged within striking distance of two Yuendumu police officers three days before Constable Zachary Rolfe shot him dead,a court has heard.
The Crown says Constable Zachary Rolfe was acting against his superiors’ plans the night he shot Indigenous teen Kumanjayi Walker dead. The defence says he was protecting himself and his mate.
Kumanjayi Walker was partly pinned to the ground underneath another police officer when Constable Zachary Rolfe fired from point-blank range into his mid-section,a Darwin court has heard.
One of the most significant murder trials in a generation for its bearing on race,power and policing in modern Australia is set to begin in Darwin.