A Palm Island man was berated and warned he could face "more trouble than he could deal with" after telling a police officer to talk respectfully to a woman after riots 11 years ago.
Retired journalist Tony Koch told a Federal Court trial the woman had been screaming about the island's only store being closed and needing food for children after violence sparked by the death of local man Mulrunji Doomadgee.
The court heard Mr Koch's host on the island, Brad Foster, intervened when the police officer told the woman to "stop yelling out" and "shut up".
The officer then called Mr Foster, who is 195cm tall, "boy" and told him to "get over here".
"He (Foster) went up to him and the police officer ... said words to the effect of ... `don't you cause trouble or you'll get more trouble than you can deal with'," Mr Koch told the court in Townsville on Monday.
"Because Brad was the one who was giving press conferences ... I saw it (officer's actions) as a deliberate attempt to belittle him in front of the community and also other police."
The trial will determine whether a number of alleged police failings after Mr Doomadgee's 2004 death were racially discriminatory.
Among the complaints made by the class action - launched by jailed riot-inciter Lex Wotton on behalf of Palm Islanders - is that the emergency declaration, subsequent raids and arrests without warrants were excessive.
Jucinta Barry told the court police pointed a gun at her and wouldn't let her go to the toilet during raids.
She eventually tried to get to the bathroom but urinated in the doorway.
Mr Koch said a number of local women came to Mr Foster's home to express concerns about the police presence and their partners and male relatives being arrested and charged.
The mother of wanted man William Blackman asked Mr Koch's photographer to take pictures to prove her son, who had run into bushland during raids, wasn't injured before he handed himself in.
"We don't want him to be injured or shot by police," Mr Koch recalled the grey-haired woman telling him.
The court heard the women also told Mr Foster the community was angry about revelations Mr Doomadgee's partner was turned away by arresting officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley as the man lay dead in a cell, and didn't believe the coroner's preliminary findings that he died as a result of falling over a step.
Mr Koch said he had not wanted to be a part of the trial until Mr Wotton had reminded him that he'd offered any help he could give after he was released from jail.
Justice Debbie Mortimer will decide whether the state of Queensland should pay compensation and damages to the community, which has also asked for an apology.
The trial continues.
