Hundreds gather in Brisbane over deaths in police custody, Sydney rally expected

Australia Broadcast Center

20 hours ago

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Brisbane's King George Square to "demand justice" over the death of 24-year-old Kumanjayi White, who died in police custody in the Northern Territory last month.
Mr White died last Tuesday after he was restrained on the floor of a Coles supermarket in Alice Springs.
Police have said two off-duty officers detained him after an alleged altercation with a security guard who accused him of shoplifting.
Organiser Sam Watson expressed anger that Mr White's death comes more than three decades after the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
"These deaths are happening all over the country, and they have been for the 30 years since the royal commission," he said.
The statements were met with shouts of "shame" from the crowd gathered.
Raelene Nixon, whose 27-year-old son Steven Lee Nixon-McKeller died in police custody in Toowoomba in 2021, joined protesters.
"We do this not for those we've lost but for those who are to come; we have a responsibility to our future generations.
"One third of the deaths in custody have been Aboriginal people but we make up just three per cent of the population.
"When we ask for justice, they give us silence and more violence."
Wakka Wakka man and South Sea Islander Kevin Yow Yeh called for more community support from the crowds gathered.
"Solidarity means action; you've come here today but there's so much more we need to do," he said.
"This story is unfortunately not a unique one.
"This is our opportunity to mobilise and active, do something, because they're killing us."
Another rally is expected to be held in Sydney this evening.
They follow rallies held across the nation, including in Alice Springs, yesterday.