Media Statement from Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves

Readers please be advised this article mentions someone who has passed away.

The young Warlpiri man who died in police custody in Coles in Alice Springs on Tuesday May 27 is my jaja (grandson).

Our family, all Warlpiri people and many other people here in Central Australia are devastated by this death.

I am angry and frustrated that yet another one of our young men has lost his life at the hands of the police.

We are demanding answers and justice.

We know that he was held down by two police until he lost consciousness and perished. But at the moment we are in the dark about what really happened.

It is disgraceful that police are already putting out stories that portray my jaja as a criminal. We are always told by lawyers that we need to wait for investigations to take place before we comment on events.

But police have not waited – they are trying to run him down. We demand they stop spreading stories and show some respect.

Family representatives need to see all available footage of this incident immediately – both CCTV and body cam so we can understand what happened to my jaja.

This young man was living away from his community, in town, in supported accommodation because of his disabilities and he was very vulnerable. He needed support and not to be criminalised because of his disability.

What are the police doing using such force on a vulnerable young man in a supermarket? Did they even try to de-escalate?

Why was he there alone, where were the carers who were supposed to be responsible for him?

This happened on the 5th anniversary of the death of George Floyd – during Reconciliation Week – but my people have to confront another death in custody.

My people are being routinely brutalised by police. We are going into jail in record numbers – men, women and children alike.

We are suffering badly under the shadow of the NT Intervention and under a Country Liberal Party government in the NT that is making many racist policies against us – sending more people to jail and threatening our sacred sites. This is making racists more confident to attack us.

We have put forward many solutions to improve Warlpiri relations with the justice system that continue to be ignored.

Late in 2024 Yuendumu was approved under the NT sentencing Act to establish a Law & Justice Group, and was provided a small grant. However the new NTG has taken this funding away from the community with no consultation.

The Kurdiji Wita Yuendumu Cultural Authority is a community designed model of governance, which aims to become the front door into the community of Yuendumu, based on traditional decision making structures and processes. But sadly our continued requests for resources to develop this Authority have been ignored.

We can not tolerate this situation, with continued brutality and lack of respect.

We will be calling for action from supporters to demand accountability, justice and self-determination.

The deaths and the racism need to stop.