Sydney rally held for Aboriginal death in Alice Springs

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Hundreds of people have gathered in central Sydney in solidarity with the family of a young Aboriginal man from the central Australian community of Yuendemu. The 24- year-old died after being restrained by police in Alice Springs earlier this week.

Transcript

00:00Well, this rally may seem a long way from Alice Springs where on Tuesday an Indigenous

00:08man died after being restrained by police officers inside a local supermarket.

00:15But many here at the rally say this is an issue that's close to home.

00:19They say it's yet another Indigenous death while in police custody and they want answers

00:25and action.

00:2624-year-old Koemanjai White was a young Indigenous man with a disability.

00:32Police say he was seen putting shopping items down the front of his clothing when he was

00:37confronted and restrained by police.

00:42Many at this rally say the actions were completely unjustified.

00:47They've expressed their anger, they've expressed much sorrow and we've heard calls for action.

00:53The family, the community demand an independent investigation.

00:58I'm a black mum right now.

01:00So have you seen me struggling with my words?

01:03Put your heart and put your mind in the soul of a black mother right now.

01:07An autopsy on Wednesday found the cause of the man's death was undetermined.

01:13Northern Territory Police have rejected calls for an outside investigation into what happened,

01:19but advocates say they'll keep campaigning for that to happen.

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