Police say woman found dead in Brisbane watchhouse died of natural causes
A protest over the death of an Aboriginal woman in custody has reignited tonight, with protesters marching from King George Square to the police headquarters in Roma Street. It follows violent protests this morning that saw 18 people arrested.
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Almost 100 people have marched down Roma Street to Brisbane’s police headquarters tonight to protest over the death of an Aboriginal woman in custody.
Several police officers are blocking the entrance, with the protesters sitting on the road outside the building.
Earlier, a planned protest in the Brisbane CBD over the death of an Aboriginal woman in police custody became a ceremony to mourn the 49-year-old.
Activists had earlier today vowed to continue the protests that saw 18 people arrested outside Brisbane police headquarters earlier today.
About 100 people have gathered in King George Square this afternoon under the watch of a number of police officers.
However, one of the activists told police and media that the gathering was not a protest.
“This is not a protest, this is a ceremony, this is sacred, this is law,” Ruby Wharton said.
“When we morn, we sing them home.”
Ms Wharton also touched on the death in custody yesterday, going onto call White Australia “terrorists”
“They dehumanise the strongest of black men”
“It’s the biggest, biggest, biggest f**king problem”
RIP Aunty Sherry 💔 Aunty died in the watchhouse this morning. I spent the afternoon with the other women in the watchhouse to support them during this traumatic time. The grief is overwhelming. When will the deaths end? When will trauma end? When will #BlackLivesMatter #freeher
— Debbie Kilroy (@DebKilroy) September 10, 2020
It comes after Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd has expressed his deepest condolences and sympathies over the death of an Indigenous woman in the Brisbane City watchhouse yesterday.
Mr Codd said the results of an autopsy revealed the 49-year-old woman had died of natural causes. The Courier-Mail has been told the woman died of a brain aneurysm.
It comes after protests outside police headquarters in Brisbane this morning, in which 18 people were arrested.
It is understood activists are planning a second protest at 4pm today at King George Square.
Mr Codd said the police service facilitated safe and lawful peaceful assemblies and protests.
“What is more difficult to sustain however is when groups of people may well utilise or use for their own particular benefits a tragedy such as the death that we experienced yesterday,” he said.
“Some of the vitriol, the hyperbole that was used by the protesters simply has no reality.
“Unfortunately whilst the majority of that group acted peacefully a small group determined it appropriate to commit offences for which we have moved in and conducted arrests.
“It is not acceptable that property be damaged, the taxpayer’s dollar has been damaged here and graffiti and other damage to police headquarters and also vehicles.”
Mr Codd said police would allow peaceful assembly but there was no notice or authorisation given before the protest today.
Police were concerned it was happening during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s clear that the gathering this morning was in excess of the limit of 10 persons for public gatherings,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s not operationally viable for us to take enforcement action with respect to compliance with the CHO directives.”
Mr Codd said a number of the people involved in today’s protest were “people we routinely see at a broad range of other protest actions being conducted in Brisbane and elsewhere over several months”.
“They don’t just relate to the issue of Indigenous deaths in custody,” he said.
“I’m not convinced that some of the people who seem to be at the core of protest activity are likely to be impacted by appeals such as ours and ones we have made in the past – that’s unfortunate.”
Mr Codd said the Brisbane City Watchhouse had medical resources available and CCTV cameras throughout.
“Tragically that has not prevented the death of a woman in the watch house yesterday afternoon,” he said.
Mr Codd told the media police wanted to express their “deepest condolences and sympathies” to the woman’s family and the Indigenous community.
He said there were “independent separate investigations” underway, including by the internal Ethical Standards Command but also by the “independent Crime and Corruption Commission”.
Mr Codd said police made information on the woman’s death as soon as they were able.
“When a death like this occurs, I am sure you will understand that the first people that need to be informed are the next of kin,” he said.
“This is the first opportunity, particularly bearing in mind that the post mortem … wasn’t released until this morning.”
He said police were not advised of any imminent health matters relating to the woman, although nurses are available to check on people if needed.
Mr Codd said it was “normal” for a person to remain at the watchhouse “anywhere between four and 10 days and sometimes longer” before being transferred to a correctional facility.
He said when the woman was last physically checked in her cell would be a focus of the investigation.
“Can I again just express on behalf of the Queensland Police Service and all the staff at the watch house our sincere condolences,” he said.
“It is tragic circumstances when anybody dies and I thank that community for their engagement and we will continue to support the family throughout this time."
A group of about 100 Black Lives Matter protesters blocked busy Roma St in the CBD on Friday morning, scuffling with police as a number of arrests were made.
The protest comes after a woman died in the Brisbane City Watchhouse on Thursday.
“An Aboriginal woman died in police custody and police haven’t explained why or how,” Greens Councillor Jonathan Sri said at the protest. “They haven’t released footage from the cell.
“Residents were protesting peacefully, spaced out safely, and without warning or negotiation police started arresting people, turning a safe situation into a tense one.”
The protesters swarmed a police car, with Mr Sri among the group as the scene intensified, with the group calling for police to “let them (the arrested protesters) go.”
Police pushed through protesters to escort a police van carrying an arrested protester.
There were several altercations but the van eventually moved through.
No one was seriously injured in any of the altercations.
Chants of “racist dogs”, “murderers” and “white supremacists” were yelled at police as the protesters moved from the area towards Fortitude Valley, splitting into two groups, before more arrests were made.
Multiple scuffles broke out on Roma Street as police arrested at least two protesters as they blocked police multiple police vans.
The protesters were chanting: “F*** the police”, “blood on your hands” and “black lives matter”.
“This murdering genocidal institution has blood on their hands,” one person shouted to the group.
A number of police were seen guarding the entrance to the city’s largest police station.
Serial climate protesters Emma Dorge and Alice Wicks were also seen in the crowd.
Earlier this morning protesters with red paint on their hands marked the Queensland Police Headquarters sign with handprints, signifying the QPS “has blood on their hands.”
One female speaker told of the moment in 1994 when she, along with what she estimates was thousands of protesters, marched the same streets the protesters walked today.
She said back 26 years ago, there was violence at the protest.
However today, she said she hoped the community could remember the law of the Aboriginal people and remain peaceful.
All protesters then took a knee on the road outside police headquarters, in solidarity of the woman who died in watch house custody.
They then left QPS headquarters and marched around to the back of the Brisbane Watch House., chanting “blood on your hands”.
Police are investigating whether the woman’s death was the result of a medical incident.
It is understood she suffered from medical conditions and was sharing a cell, but police are yet to comment further.
She had been remanded in custody on Monday and was awaiting a transfer to a correctional facility.
The time limit an adult can be left in a watchhouse is 21 days however most people are usually moved within days.
It’s understood she was to be moved – most likely to Brisbane Women’s jail – but it’s unclear why she had not gone and when she was to be moved.
Queensland Corrective Services has declined to comment.
It’s understood the woman was sharing a cell but police are yet to comment further.
She had been remanded in custody on Monday and was awaiting a transfer to a correctional facility.
The time limit an adult can be left in a watchhouse is 21 days, however most people are usually moved within days.
It’s understood she was to be moved – most likely to Brisbane Women’s jail – but it’s unclear why she had not gone and when she was to be moved.
Queensland Corrective Services has declined to comment.
Originally published as Police say woman found dead in Brisbane watchhouse died of natural causes
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