Kumanjayi Walker's family felt they would have to "prove" they were on their "best behaviour" and feared another police shooting, as they waited for answers outside the Yuendumu Police Station after the 19-year-old was shot by an officer.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
A series of phone videos – taken by Mr Walker's cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown on the night he died –were played to the coroner today, showing a gathering of "about 100" Yuendumu residents and family members outside the local police station.
In one video, Ms Fernandez-Brown can be heard telling her Facebook Live audience: "My cousin [Kumanjayi] just got shot by the police and we're waiting to know if he's okay or not".
In another she said: "We've been asking the police to come out and tell us if he's okay … all of the medical staff from Yuendumu left this morning … we don't even know if he's alive."
Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker died in November 2019 after he was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest.
In March this year, a Supreme Court jury found him not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a five-week trial.
A three-month coronial inquest into the death began this week in Alice Springs.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage heard Ms Fernandez-Brown started filming about 20 minutes after the gathering outside the police station started, to show they were "calm".
"I think the media or anybody listening would have been like, 'okay, but what were you doing? Were you loud or were you being dangerous outside?' And there would have been this concept that we … would have been doing the wrong thing. So, I just needed to prove that that wasn't happening," Ms Fernandez-Brown said.
Mr Walker's cousin told the coroner she disarmed community members who had been on their way to the police station carrying weapons.
She maintained the crowd was "subdued" by elders and on their "best behaviour", out of fear of another police shooting.
"Even though we were angry and frustrated, our fear of [another shooting] outweighed everything," Ms Fernandez-Brown said.
The coroner heard a nurse suffered hand and head injuries when rocks were thrown at her car on the night, while a police officer was also hit with a rock.
Ms Fernandez-Brown said she did not see that, nor was she aware until today, of a fire at the Yuendumu health clinic on the night of the shooting.
The coroner also heard community members saw a plane arriving late at night and Ms Fernandez-Brown believed it was to take Mr Walker to Alice Springs for medical treatment.
"I felt very sickened by the information that he was never on that plane because it was something that I held onto so deeply," Ms Fernandez-Brown said.
Mr Walker's body was later taken to Alice Springs by car, something Ms Fernandez-Brown said was "disrespectful".
"There wasn't anybody present with him that loved him that was on that journey with him … it just didn't feel like he was given that respect as a human or as an individual to have that comfort, even after [his death]," she said.
'Walking in both worlds': Aboriginal officer gives evidence
Uncle to Mr Walker and Aboriginal community police officer, Derek Williams, told the coroner he had arrested the 19-year-old "four or five times" without issue and had, on occasion, transported Mr Walker in the front seat of the police car.
"He wasn't a big threat to anybody," Mr Williams said.
When asked about the "axe incident" – an earlier attempt by local police to arrest Mr Walker, which saw him run at them with an axe – Mr Williams said he had "never known him to react like that".
Mr Williams told the coroner of the difficulties he faced "walk(ing) in both worlds", upholding the law as a police officer, balanced with cultural responsibilities as an Aboriginal man.
"It was really hard that night," he said.
When asked by Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer, about how Mr Walker's death impacted him, Mr Williams said he felt "betrayed" by the police force.
"At that time, I wanted to quit, you know. But I stood strong for my community and for my people there," he said.
Mr Williams will continue giving evidence when the inquest resumes on Thursday.
