On Saturday supporters of Elijah Doughty gathered to voice their disbelief that the man who killed the teen is set to be released, despite only being sentenced last July.
The killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was acquitted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison for dangerous driving occasioning death.
At Saturday's rally in Kalgoorlie, Elijah’s supporters called for a retrial.
“We know the truth… We want justice… He could have been anyone’s child,” one supporter said.
“Why aren’t the wider community angry that this child killer is being set free in our community,” she continued.
The mining town of Kalgoorlie has been divided since August 2016 when Elijah Doughty was killed, though many say there has always been a rift between the Indigenous and non- Indigenous people.
On the same day as the protest, a flyer appeared at the rail station- where supporters were to begin their rally from.
“Cull a thief a day… Justice is served,” the flyer read.
As Elijah’s supporters made their way into town, they were met by a group of Kalgoorlie locals who were calling on an end to crime in the gold mining town.
With signs calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to intervene and “help” Kalgoorlie, Elijah’s supporters didn’t appreciate their presence.
One support asked them why did they have to come down on this day, their response- “All Lives Matter”.
“Everyone has their rights,” one Kalgoorlie resident said.
Many of the people in this small group of locals were asked to stop engaging with the protesters and were moved on by the police.
The walk for Elijah saw many of the young Indigenous children of Kalgoorlie participate.
Some of the Kalgoorlie's non- Indigenous locals came down to protest, "All Lives Matter". Source: Supplied: Facebook
Victor Smith, an Aboriginal man who lives in Kalgoorlie and is a youth worker, addressed the crowd.
He wanted to remind the Kalgoorlie residents, not all black people are thieves.
“Look how much young fullas are here-their mum and dads work too- we buy our own stuff, we pay taxes, we work for our own stuff," he said.
He also said the government should be ashamed of themselves.
“The justice system in Australia has no time for blackfullas,” he said.
One of Elijah’s family members also took the microphone and addressed the supporters.
“You can’t replace a child’s life. He’s not here with his family, he’s not here with his friends but the court house is,” she said.
The man who was driving the car that killed Elijah is set to be released in the coming days.
In accordance with Western Australia’s parole policy, if an offender is to serves four years or less they are eligible for parole after serving half of their time.
Despite only being sentenced last July, the accused had previously served 11 months in jail while Elijah’s death was being investigated. Therefore adding together all the time served, he has served a year and a half in jail.
NITV News previously reached out to the Prisoner Review Board for comment. They did not confirm if the accused will be free this weekend but did confirm his Earliest Eligibility Date (EED) is for February 26 and said in most cases the decision to grant or not grant parole was made well before the EED.
