A Northern Territory constable has told an inquest into the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker that text messages between police officers referring to Aboriginal people with offensive slurs were not “racist”.
Const Zachary Rolfe shot 19-year-old Walker three times during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, in November 2019.
Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges during a six-week trial earlier this year.
NT officer Const Mark Sykes – a former Australian defence force solider who served with Rolfe in Afghanistan before they joined the police force – told Walker’s inquest on Monday he was a “very close friend” of Rolfe.
Sykes said Rolfe had always conducted himself “appropriately and used the minimum force required” as a police officer.
He was asked by counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer if he had ever heard racist language or seen racist texts during his 12 months in the Alice Springs police station – including offensive messages referring to Aboriginal people as “coons”. Sykes initially said he wouldn’t call them “racist”.
The inquest has previously heard Rolfe was involved in text message exchanges in which officers described Aboriginal people as “losers”, “grubby fucks” and “niggas”, and discussed using force to “towel them up”.
“I’ve seen the text messages in the media, I’ve seen inappropriate language”, Sykes said on Monday. But the constable said he didn’t think the behaviour was “racist”, stating he Googled the meaning of racism to form that view.
“I’ve never seen someone … do something or act on anything with prejudice … I think what I have seen with those text messages is very inappropriate and somewhat mindless,” Sykes said. But he said he thought there needed to be “further action” for it to be considered racist.
Dwyer repeatedly asked Sykes if he thought the language was racist before showing him further transcripts of text exchanges, including where he used the term “grubby fucks” and Rolfe used the word “coons”.
Asked if Sykes was referring to Aboriginal people as “grubby fucks” he replied: “No.” He was unable to recall the circumstances of the text messages.
Sykes acknowledged the words were “inappropriate and immature” but said during his time working alongside Rolfe he had not seen him act in a racist manner.
“In my time spent with Zach … I never saw anything more than what I am reading there.” He went on to state he wasn’t defending Rolfe and acknowledged there may be some “offence in the community”.
Sykes subsequently conceded that, on reflection, the word “coons” was racist and unacceptable.
“You’ve now come to acknowledge that it’s racist. Is that right?” Dwyer said.
“Yes, that word is a racist word,” Sykes replied.
He was later asked if he had ever heard “inappropriate” language outside the text messages when interacting with police officers at Alice Springs. Asked by Dwyer if some language was racist he replied: “Words that could be taken for that, yes. There’s no doubt.”
The inquest on Monday was shown two arrests captured on Rolfe’s body-worn cameras, including one while carrying out his duties in the remote community of Borroloola where Rolfe appeared to strike a man in the chest and shout at him using profane language.
The second video, captured on 12 October 2019, shows officers including Rolfe and Sykes rushing towards a suspect before Rolfe appears to shove the man into a brick wall, causing him to hit his head.
The vision shows blood gushing down the man’s head and on to the ground.
An officer can be heard saying: “You think you can hit a woman ay?” while a woman can be heard crying and calling out before the man is handed a glove by Rolfe to stem the bleeding.
The incident was subject to an internal investigation over inappropriate use of force after a failed court case, according to Sykes, who said he did not know the outcome of the investigation.
He later said he had no concerns about the use of force in the arrest but was “concerned” the man was injured and required seven stitches to his head. The inquest continues.
