‘They show up when they want 100 Instagram likes’: Black Lives Matter protesters SLAM ‘shameful’ low turnout at a new protest – weeks after tens of thousands stormed the streets
- Weeks ago, tens of thousands took to the streets after George Floyd’s death
- But on Saturday less than a thousand people showed out in Brisbane
- Organisers were disheartened as 30,000 people marched just weeks ago
- ‘It was okay for people to come out here and want to be a part of it when they were chasing a hundred likes on Instagram,’ said Ruby Wharton
Organisers of a Black Lives Matter protest have slammed ‘shameful’ former demonstrators for failing to show up at a new demonstration – saying people only turn out when they want ‘a hundred likes on Instagram’.
Fewer than a thousand people gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane city on Saturday, leaving organisers disheartened.
Just weeks ago, some 30,000 Queenslanders turned out to a rally following the death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police.
A group of protesters are pictured kneeling in solidarity at Brisbane’s Black Lives Matter rally
Fewer than a thousand people gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane city on Saturday, leaving organisers disheartened.
A young woman is pictured holding up a Black Lives Matter sign as demonstration kneel
Protesters are pictured burning an Australian flag during a Black Lives Matter in Brisbane
Just weeks ago, some 30,000 Queenslanders turned out to a rally following the death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis
‘I can not explain the disappointment,’ Gomeroi Kooma woman Ruby Wharton told the small crowd gathered at King George Square on Saturday.
‘It was okay for people to come out here and want to be a part of it when they were chasing a hundred likes on Instagram.’
‘That is shameful and tokenism,’ she said.
Organiser Bogaine Spearim told reporters the rally was intended to be a continuation of the global protests that kicked off in the wake of Mr Floyd’s death in May.
‘Deaths are continuing to happen in Australia – Dave Dungay Jnr said ‘I can’t breathe’ before dying in custody,’ he said.
‘We will continue to hit the streets and disrupt until there is justice.’
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter ) rally at King George Square in Brisbane
Protesters are seen burning an Australian flag during a Black Lives Matter rally in Brisbane
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally at King George Square in Brisbane
Despite the small turnout, the protestors were vocal, shouting ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land’ and, ‘No justice, no peace, no racist police’.
Garrwa and Butchulla man Fred Leone called on the Queensland government to conduct a broad review into black deaths in custody.
‘F**k all has changed since 1991, since the last royal commission,’ he said
‘Black Lives Matter. They do not just matter cause it is trending, they matter every single day.’
Demonstrators hold up a sign that says Black Lives Matter as they march through the streets of Brisbane
A demonstrator holds up a sign that says ‘no more police brutality’ at the Brisbane Black Lives Matter protest
More than 430 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are known to have died in custody in Australia since a royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody delivered its final report in 1991.
Organisers are also calling for anti-racism training in schools and an end to racial profiling by police.
Mr Dungay died in 2015 after he was restrained by five prison officers in Sydney’s Long Bay jail after he refused to stop eating biscuits.
A protester wearing a face mask is pictured at Brisbane’s Black Lives Matter rally
Demonstrators march in Brisbane’s King George Square on Saturday to protest against the rate of Indigenous deaths in custody
A demonstrator holds up a sign that says ‘destroy While Supremacy’ at the Brisbane Black Lives Matter protest