Hundreds of people have come together at vigils in Alice Springs, Melbourne and Cairns to mourn Kumanjayi White.
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00:00We've seen further rallies since we spoke yesterday, rallies held in Sydney and Brisbane
00:08yesterday afternoon, all in honour of Kuminjai White. These rallies are being held reverberating
00:16the messages that his family want to hear. As you've mentioned, they're calling for the
00:22investigation into his death to be handed over to an independent body. We know that Kuminjai
00:28White died while he was in custody of two off-duty Northern Territory police officers. They say
00:35he died during an attempted arrest at the local Coles here in Alice Springs on the 27th of May.
00:43His family also want to see the CCTV footage of that incident and they are also calling for the
00:50police officers involved to be stood down while this investigation continues. The rallies we saw
00:57late yesterday in Brisbane and Sydney were quite significant in terms of the numbers of people
01:04who turned out. We also heard from George Newhouse, who is a lawyer representing Kuminjai White's
01:10family. We can take a listen to what he said to the crowd.
01:14They're asking for what any family would want. Due process, transparency and accountability.
01:24That's not too much to ask. And yet here we are in 2025 with a grieving family pleading for justice.
01:32And Mel, today news of another death in custody in the Northern Territory has emerged.
01:38What can you tell us about this incident?
01:42Yeah, Fauzia, we don't have a lot of details about this incident just yet. This came in the
01:48form of a statement from Northern Territory police late yesterday evening. They say a 68-year-old
01:54man has died in custody whilst in the intensive care unit at the Royal Darwin Hospital. We've been
02:01told that he was taken into protective custody by AFP officers towards the end of last month when he
02:09was, they say, too intoxicated to board a flight at the Royal, at Darwin International Airport. He was
02:17taken to the Palmerston Watch House, but then it was decided he needed to seek medical attention. He was
02:24taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital, but lost consciousness on the way and has been in the ICU since
02:31the end of last month and passed away yesterday. Police say that they are now conducting an
02:38investigation on behalf of the coroner.
02:40Alright, Melissa McKay there reporting for us from Alice Springs. Thank you.