Hundreds of people have attended a candle-lit vigil outside a territory’s parliament in support of a desert community which has lost a second young man in a death-in-custody incident.
The vigil in Darwin was held on Wednesday night amid growing calls for an independent investigation into the death of mentally disabled man Kumanjayi White on May 27.
He died shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers in a supermarket in Alice Springs.
Police allege the the 24-year-old, originally from the outback community of Yuendumu, was shoplifting and had assaulted a security guard who confronted him in the confectionery aisle.
At Wednesday’s vigil a large banner stating “We stand with Yuendumu” was displayed in front of the parliament’s entrance while another banner laid on the ground read “Justice for White”.
Organisers invited people to put lighted candles or flowers on that banner following speeches about the mistrust of police in Aboriginal communities and the need for an external inquiry into Mr White’s death.
Several women elders of the Warlpiri people wailed in grief as the tributes were laid.
Justice Not Jails spokesperson Jade Richie said “no police should be investigating police” in a death-in-custody case.
Her group is organising a “national week of action” in response to Mr White’s death in custody, with vigils planned across the country.
NT Police and Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have strongly rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry out an investigation coupled with a coronial inquiry.
On Wednesday the Central Land Council (CLC) representing Indigenous people in the NT’s dry desert centre called on the federal government to withhold funding from the NT government.
The council wants an independent police conduct commission to be set up with adequate funding so an independent inquiry led by the NT coroner can be concluded within a year.
“Unlike most jurisdictions the NT lacks a body to investigate police misconduct and has failed to overhaul the culture of its police force,” CLC chair Warren Williams said in a statement.
“But let me be clear, only money will force the NT government to act. Our lives are worth less than a chocolate bar to those in power and money is the only language they understand.”
Mr Williams said measures must target officers with “a history of complaints and racist attitudes” so Indigenous communities could regain confidence in the police after trust has been eroded.
The Yuendumu community also lost 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 when he was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest.
Mr Rolfe was in 2022 found not guilty of all charges over the death.
The Kumanjayi Walker coronial findings have been postponed until July 7 after Kumanjayi White’s death in custody.
Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said on Thursday an independent death in custody probe might be warranted “in the interest of having some separation”.
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