Black Lives Matter protest briefly shuts down Brisbane CBD courts complex

Brisbane’s Supreme and District courts complex has been briefly locked down because of protest activity.

Brisbane’s Supreme and District Courts building has been locked down briefly because of protest activity.

Hundreds of people have blocked traffic, chanting “justice for Aubrey” as they marched to the courts from King George Square.

Aubrey Donahue, 27, was shot by police during a confrontation in Mareeba last Saturday.

Police officers on motorbikes and in both marked and unmarked cars lined George St during the protest.

It culminated with hundreds of protesters gathering on the lawn near the court buidings on George St.

Protesters in Brisbane's CBD have briefly forced the shutdown of the building that houses the Supreme and District courts.

A microphone was set up near the Coffee Club cafe and protesters were invited to speak to the crowd.

One member spoke passionately about injustices against the indigenous community, and his many relatives who had been unfairly incarcerated.

“When does our liberation start,” he said.

Protestors from Western Australia, Tasmania, parts of Queensland spoke.

“Where the f--- is commonality in the thread being sewn,” one woman asked.

“One thing we can do is to take action to ensure our children aren’t the adults that get shot down by police.”

Mr Donahue’s cousin Grayson Elu said the protest was about raising awareness.

“At this point all we are doing is still making it known that what the police is doing is wrong,” he said

He said they were following what his mother would have wanted.

“When she is ready to fight it, then the right team will follow,”he said

“It is tough but we still got to fight, we still got to get answers.

“You never know how long til we get those answers or if we will get those answers.”

Inside the Supreme and District courts building, security sent a warning message about 11am.

The protest was sparked by the fatal shooting by police of Mareeba man Aubrey Donahue.

However, Justice Peter Davis remarked that there didn’t appear to be any protest activity in his courtroom, “so we’ll just keep going”.

The lockdown was lifted after about five minutes, but people were warned to be careful when exiting the building as there were still protesters in the vicinity.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said police had not received a notice of intention from the group prior to the protest.