Text messages described as repugnant and racist were sent by the officer who shot dead an Indigenous man in the Northern Territory.

Text messages described as repugnant and racist were sent by the officer who shot dead an Indigenous man in the Northern Territory.

The messages were retrieved from the phone of Constable Zachary Rolfe, who was initially charged with the murder of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker during an arrest attempt at Yuendumu in 2019.

Constable Rolfe was later acquitted on all charges after a Supreme Court trial.

At a coronial inquest into Mr Walker’s death on Wednesday, counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer read a number of messages sent some months before the shooting.

In one, Constable Rolfe wrote about being allowed to “towel locals up”.

In another, the officer made reference to a “c—s”, a term Sergeant Anne Jolley, the chief officer at Yuendumu, agreed at the inquest was blatantly racist.

Constable Rolfe also referred to “Neanderthals who drink too much alcohol”, which Sergeant Jolley accepted was disgusting and unacceptable.

Source: Kumanjayi Walker shooting cop sent ‘racist’ messages