Brisbane rallies against another death in custody

Aboriginal protesters and their supporters marched on Queensland Police headquarters calling for justice for Shaun Coolwell, on Saturday 24 October. He is the latest fatality in an ongoing epidemic of Aboriginal deaths in custody.

On 2 October, Shaun was at home in Logan, south of Brisbane, observing the fourth anniversary of his brother Bradley Coolwell’s death in police custody. After a distressed Shaun hurt himself and was bleeding, the family called an ambulance. However, paramedics called the police. Witnesses reported seeing 10 to 12 police cars arrive.

“Shaun was smashed down onto the floor and they used their knees and shoulders to hold him and handcuffed his hands behind his back”, family spokesperson Sam Watson told the Brisbane Times. Instead of receiving immediate medical assistance, Shaun was assaulted by police. By the time he arrived at Logan Hospital was declared deceased.

At the demonstration, community leader Fred Coolwell addressed the massive contingent of police: “I’m getting sick and tired of coming here and putting my point across, to how disgusted I am with the Queensland Police Service. They can never do no wrong, yet they can run into a blackfulla’s home, kick the door down and do whatever they want”.

Another speaker, Tony Robertson, remarked, “I look around now and I don’t see any of my whitefulla friends in the Recognise campaign standing here in solidarity. That worries me”.

“They write documents, they look in books, but they don’t come on the street. They don’t stand here with you.”

Many speakers directed anger at Queensland’s Police Liaison Officers. Fred told Red Flag that millions of dollars from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, supposedly allocated to prevent deaths in custody, were instead funding PLOs who do nothing to stop police violence.

“When are we gonna see justice in this bloody country? Things need to change, and very quickly, because I’m sick of seeing our young people dying.”