A young Aboriginal man called Zachary Rolfe a “fucking racist” and accused him of striking him for no reason in an incident only weeks before the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker, an inquest has heard.
Rolfe shot Walker dead during a bungled arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019. He was later charged with murder, but acquitted after a supreme court trial.
An inquest into the 19-year-old Warlpiri man’s death continued on Monday, with Rolfe resuming his evidence.
Julian McMahon SC, representing Yuendumu’s Parumpurru committee, showed Rolfe a video of an incident at Lasseters casino in September 2019.
The footage was taken from Rolfe’s body-worn camera footage, the inquest heard, and showed a young man slapping the bonnet of a police car before he was struck to the head by Rolfe.
When asked if he had punched the man, Rolfe told the inquest that it “might have been a small slap”.
McMahon also asked Rolfe “what did you hit him in the head for”, to which Rolfe responded that he could not recall but that it was “potentially a fear-based response” based on the noise made when the man hit the front of the car.
The video showed the man was “deeply distressed”, McMahon said, and accused Rolfe of “racist violence”.
Rolfe said he did not agree that the video depicted racist violence. He said he could not recall why he watched the footage again eight days later, and used his phone to take a video of the footage.
Rolfe did not submit a use-of-force declaration after the incident, the inquest heard.
He said he would estimate this was the only time during his career this occurred.
McMahon said Rolfe had “omitted to put in” his “criminal conduct”, but Rolfe said he did not agree the strike was criminal.
When asked if the effect of not declaring the strike to the head meant it was covered up, Rolfe said “it was omitted from the paperwork, obviously it was captured on the bodyworn video”.
Rolfe was also asked by McMahon about a story by Guardian Australia that revealed he commented on an Instagram photo featuring him, Ben Roberts-Smith and a serving Queensland police officer that it was “Just a couple of cops/murderers and war criminals Havin a lovely afternoon in the sun”.
Rolfe said he was making a joke using his private Instagram account that attempted to make light of how he had been portrayed in relation to Walker’s death and had not meant to offend anyone.
When asked by McMahon if the comment showed “a deep disrespect for those who have suffered” after Walker’s death, Rolfe responded: “I don’t think so, I can see how it’s taken that way.”
“I think people will be able to become offended by things that I say, regardless of what is said or the intention behind it,” Rolfe said.
“I’ve dealt with the sadness of taking Kumanjayi’s life, I believe, after the initial shooting.
“But I refuse to wallow in it. If I need to laugh rather than cry, I will laugh.”
Sgt Lee Bauwens, who was Rolfe’s supervisor in the immediate response team and described himself as a close friend of the former constable, also returned to give further evidence at the inquest on Monday.
He was shown several award certificates and passages from nominations for awards within the Territory Response Group, where he worked between 2004 and 2014.
The certificates included two from 2007 referring to the Shit BBQ award winner cooking “the most coon like bbq ever!!” and the Noogadah award winner “expressing [their] utmost level of Aboriginality while being an elite member of the [TRG]”.
Bauwens said he did not know the origin of the name Noogadah or Nugeda award, but agreed it sounded like a made-up Aboriginal word.
Bauwens said he agreed the awards were overtly racist, and that he was aware the Noogadah was also known as the coon of the year award, but maintained he had not heard that word used by police outside of this.
He also refuted evidence given by Rolfe that it was commonly used in Alice Springs police station.
Bauwens was also shown a 2015 certificate for the winner of the Nugeda which included a photo of someone in blackface, and appeared to refer to the winner by using another made-up word and the term “Wandering whistling duck”.
Asked by Patrick Coleridge, counsel assisting the coroner, if blackface was racist, Bauwens responded: “I dunno, it is?”
He then said: “I’m only being honest. It would be easy to say it’s racist, but I don’t know.”
Bauwens later said he was remorseful about the awards.
He also said he could not recall whether he heard Rolfe being given information about the awards while the pair were at a barbecue with Carey Joy, a former Northern Territory police officer.
In March, Rolfe’s evidence regarding the certificates sparked an investigation by the territory’s independent commissioner against corruption, Michael Riches.
On Friday, Riches issued an update into his investigation, which referred to uncovering the 2007 certificates.
“They are so offensive that I do not consider it in the public interest that they be circulated,” he said.
Riches said he also uncovered racist material up to 2015, but none from 2016 onwards.
He called for anyone else with information to come forward, and repeated that those who did so would be offered certain undertakings, including that current or former police officers who did so would not be the subject of an adverse finding under the Icac Act, would not be referred to NT police for potential disciplinary action, and would not be named in an Icac public statement or report.
The inquest continues.
