Hundreds attend Sydney vigil for Kumanjayi White after NT death in custody

‘Until there’s justice, we refuse to stay silent’: Hundreds have gathered in Sydney for a vigil to mourn a disabled Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week.

Hundreds attended a vigil at Sydney town hall on May 1, 2025, to mourn Kumanjayi White, a young Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week. Picture: Supplied.

Hundreds have gathered in Sydney for a vigil to mourn a disabled Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week.

The 24-year-old Warlpiri man, known as Kumanjayi White, died after being restrained by police officers following an altercation at a supermarket.

An estimated 500-strong crowd gathered at Sydney’s town hall on Sunday evening calling for “justice for all black lives”.

Hundreds attended a vigil at Sydney town hall on May 1, 2025, to mourn Kumanjayi White, a young Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week. Picture: Supplied.

Activist group and vigil organisers Blak Caucus said they held the event in solidarity with Kumanjayi’s grandfather, senior elder Ned Hargraves, and his call for national action.

“We held this vigil because Kumanjayi should still be alive and until there’s justice, we refuse to stay silent while our people keep dying at the hands of this system,” Blak Caucus said in a statement.

“Our people shouldn’t be left picking up the pieces after state violence, we should be building futures and communities – not mourning the same brutality, year after year.”

They backed Mr Hargraves’ demands for an independent investigation into the death, the release of any CCTV and bodyworn footage, and for police to stop “putting out stories that portray my jaja (grandson) as a criminal”.

Hundreds attended a vigil at Sydney town hall on May 1, 2025, to mourn Kumanjayi White, a young Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week. Picture: Supplied.

Kumanjayi White was from Yuendumu but living in Alice Springs on an NDIS plan under public guardianship.

The NT News understands Kumanjayi assaulted a woman with a baby outside Commonwealth Bank about lunchtime on May 27, and soon after was stopped by a security guard at the nearby Coles supermarket on Gregory Terrace on suspicion of shoplifting.

NT Police said two officers in the supermarket intervened, Kumanjayi was “taken to the ground”, stopped breathing, and died 70 minutes later.

The cause of death has not been determined and no charges have been laid.

NT Police have rejected calls for an independent investigation into the death.

Hundreds attended a vigil at Sydney town hall on May 1, 2025, to mourn Kumanjayi White, a young Aboriginal man who died in custody in Alice Springs last week. Picture: Supplied.

At Sydney’s vigil Dunghutti man Paul Silva – whose uncle David Dungay Jnr died in custody in 2015 – said systems that continued to fail First Nations people were a national concern.

“This man was vulnerable,” he told the crowd.

“We join the family in sorrow, in solidarity and in an unwavering demand for justice.

“We are committed to find justice, not just for his family but for the community and all Aboriginal deaths in custody.”

Originally published as Hundreds attend Sydney vigil for Kumanjayi White after NT death in custody