Kumanjayi Walker inquest: Zach Rolfe’s text messages revealed

Text messages between Constable Zach Rolfe and other NT police officers have been described as ‘shocking’, ‘disgusting’ and ‘blatantly racist’. Read the exchanges. WARNING: Confronting

Zach Rolfe believed he had “a licence to towel locals” who he referred to as “c**ns” and “neanderthals”, shocking text messages read out in the Alice Springs Local Court on Wednesday have revealed.

The “shocking”, “disgusting” and “blatantly racist” texts were aired for the first time on Wednesday during the second week of an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, after he was fatally shot by Constable Rolfe during a violent arrest in Yuendumu in 2019.

Constable Rolfe was acquitted of all charges over the shooting by a Supreme Court jury in March.

On Wednesday, counsel assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer, read the texts aloud to current officer in charge at the Yuendumu police station, Sergeant Anne Jolley, who was not involved in the exchanges or in the arrest of Mr Walker on the night of his death.

In one message, denounced as “bullying” and “threatening” by Sergeant Jolley, Dr Dwyer said Constable Rolfe appeared to brag to a fellow officer about having “smashed” an Aboriginal community.

“I’m out at Borroloola, a random community on the coast, because they’re rioting,” he said in March 2019.

“But we came up last time they did this and smashed the whole community, so this time, as soon as we arrived they started behaving.”

Then on April 9, Constable Rolfe texted another colleague saying “if you’re hungry you’re definitely allowed to towel locals up”.

“I do have a licence to towel locals, I like it,” he said.

In response to questions from Dr Dwyer, Sgt Jolley said while she’d never heard the expression to “towel” someone, “To me that would mean beat up locals”.

After Dr Dwyer read aloud another text message in which Constable Rolfe used the word “c**ns”, Sergeant Jolley said she agreed it was “shocking to hear a serving member of the police force in 2019 use that blatantly racist, disgusting term, to refer to an Aboriginal person”.

In another text, Dr Dwyer said Constable Rolfe complained to another officer that he didn’t understand why “it’s my job to look after neanderthals who drink too much alcohol”.

“We’ll hear from Constable Rolfe about what he was meaning to infer, but if by the use of the term ‘neanderthals’, he’s meaning to refer to anybody who is of Aboriginal descent, do you agree that that is disgusting and disgraceful and wholly unacceptable?” Dr Dwyer asked.

“Yeah, it’s offensive,” Sergeant Jolley replied.

In referring to another text in which another officer with the rank of sergeant texted Constable Rolfe to say “those bush c**ns aren’t used to people going after them”, Sergeant Jolley said the fact the other sergeant “was encouraging that kind of talk” amounted to a “serious dereliction of duty”.

In July 2019, less than four months before the fatal shooting, the court heard another officer texted Constable Rolfe to apologise for “the stress caused by losing my shit”, saying “I’d just had enough, he was the second person to press my button that night”.

“Bro, there was literally no stress about it, I’m all for that shit,” Constable Rolfe replied.

“I’ve done the same thing to you more than once before, I’m always ready to make my camera face the other way and be a dramatic c*** for the film haha.”

The other officer responded “and the Oscar goes to...”

Sergeant Jolley said she had never personally heard police officers speaking like that but if she had she would have been “horrified” and reported it to her superiors as representing a “potentially dangerous” attitude.

NT Police barrister, Ian Freckelton KC, said while the messages were “repugnant”, they did “not represent the values of the NT Police force or of most members of that force”.

“It is important, your honour, that the missimpression not be propagated that this modest number of offensive utterances by text message be imputed to the whole police force,” he said.

“To do so would run the risk of diminishing the respect in which the force is generally held and the trust that is reposed in them, and if that occurred, it would be a most unfortunate outcome of this inquest.”

Dr Freckelton said the messages were “extremely regrettable” and the court would “not hear any justification or any rationalisation of those from the NT Police force”.

“We do represent some of those members and you will hear, from them, what their views are as to what they have communicated,” he said.

“Some of them, at least, will be expressing significant contrition to your honour and saying that those kinds of utterances are not reflective of who they are, what their attitudes are, or of the attitudes of their squads or their colleagues.”

The other officers names have been suppressed from publication as they are yet to give evidence themselves.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.

‘Teary, shy’ 13-year-old Kumanjayi Walker suffered ‘significant trauma’

Kumanjayi Walker showed distressing signs of “significant trauma” from as early as 13, including by self-harming in a police lock up, an inquest into his death has heard.

Constable Zach Rolfe was acquitted on all charges in the Supreme Court in March over Mr Walker’s police shooting death in Yuendumu in 2019.

In the second week of hearings in the inquest at the Alice Springs Local Court on Wednesday, Sergeant In Charge at Yuendumu, Anne Jolley, told the court she met Mr Walker after he broke into the local medical clinic about 2014.

Sgt Jolley said Mr Walker was one of 14 youths she placed on a list of “ringleaders” involved in petty youth offending, after he had spent time in juvenile detention.

“He was very shy,” she said.

“When we had to lock him up he was very emotional, got very teary.”

Current Sergeant in charge at Yuendumu police station, Anne Jolley. Picture: Jason Walls

Counsel assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer, read aloud from a custody incident or illness report, filled out after the 2014 break-in.

“Member Jolley entered the cell and spoke with him briefly and he got up and appeared to be looking towards the door,” she said.

“Kumanjayi then got his top and wrapped it around his neck and was threatening to strangle himself.

“Then it talks about the police officers taking Kumanjayi by either side of his arms, removing the top from around his neck and removing it from the cell as well as the blanket.

“Kumanjayi continues to call out, threatening to harm himself if he went to juvenile detention, and he hit his head on the wall twice, and he punched the wall several times and threatened to poke his eye out and bit his fingers.”

Sgt Jolley said, at the time, she would have called a mental health support worker after he appeared to be suffering from “significant trauma”.

“She was awesome. She would come down, it didn’t matter what time of day or night, if we had a youth in custody, she would be there,” Sgt Jolley said.

Dr Dwyer asked: “When someone like her leaves the community, are you worried about the impact on someone like Kumanjayi?”.

“Yes,” Sgt Jolley said.

“Because obviously you build trust and rapport with someone and obviously they’re getting that support and when that person leaves, then they worry about where the next support is coming from.”

The inquest continues.