"The police chokehold - also known as the Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint hold, LVNR or sleeper hold - involves compressing the arteries and veins in the neck to decrease blood supply to the brain.

Queensland is currently the only state in Australia to allow the controversial chokehold.

... in addition to the well-documented evidence base of chokeholds and the risks associated with death for all Australians, the unacceptable risk the chokehold poses to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Peoples."

"there have been at least five deaths involving the chokehold in Queensland. These five victims were Stevie Lee Nixon-McKellar, Noombah, Christopher Martin, Carl Grillo and Michael Eddy."

"... Stevie Lee's mother, Dr Raylene Nixon, is spearheading a campaign to ban chokeholds in Queensland. "

"The campaign saw some early success. On 14 April 2023, then QPS Commissioner Katarina Caroll removed the chokehold as a use of force option for the Queensland Police Service. A direction to cease using the technique was put in place. References to the chokehold were removed from the police manual... But just one month later, Commissioner Caroll reneged, stating pressure from the Queensland Police Union... The LVNR is currently allowed in 'dangerous situations'.

"The death of George Floyd prompted jurisdictions around the globe to ban the chokehold...All Australian states and territories besides Queensland have banned the use of chokeholds. Victoria, NSW and Qld are all categorical in stating they do not teach or advocate the use of any form of chokehold or respiratory neck restraint."

Dr Nixon is continuing the campaign, see https://nit.com.au/10-03-2026/23068/mother-fights-to-ban-police-chokeholds-in-queensland

"A petition calling on the coroner to release the footage of Stevie-Lee's death can be signed online."

"Releasing the footage is in the public interest. In 2020, footage of George Floyd being physically restrained by Minneapolis police flooded mainstream and social media worldwide, triggering long over-due conversations about racism and police violence around the globe. ....

In the absence of justice before the courts, releasing the footage is crucial. In Australia, no police officer has ever been held accountable in relation to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person who has died in police custody. In the absence of justice before courts of law, justice in the court of public opinion takes on special importance.  "

#NoMoreDeathsInCustody #FirstNationsJustice #QueenslandPolice #QldGov #QLD #Justice4StevieLee #DeathsInCustody

Dr Raylene Nixon's fight for justice and an end to police chokeholds in Queensland

On 7 October, 2021, Steven Lee Nixon-McKeller was killed at the hands of two Queensland Police Service (QPS) officers in Toowoomba.Stevie Lee was just twenty-seven years old. He died after he was held...

National Indigenous Times
NSW coroner ‘very troubled’ by health policy change after Stolen Generations member dies in custody

Yuin man Gregory Merriman did not have a chronic health screening before suffering a fatal heart attack in Silverwater prison in 2022

The Guardian
Tammy Shipley drank 67 glasses of water before her death in custody from water intoxication, inquest hears

The state coroner will examine why police failed to identify the Aboriginal mother of five’s acute mental health conditions at the time of her arrest, despite having previously detained her under the mental health act

The Guardian

@verdantdavid

fair-minded nations


we certainly are not of that description. how could we so completely self-delude, given we:

  • continue to murder #FirstNations people fast via #DeathsInCustody, & slowly via ongoing structural racist bias against them
  • voted against #TheVoice
  • vote, election after election, for parties that run offshore murder & rape concentration camps
  • support the genocidal criminal state of israel
  • continue to allow dickswingers to rape &/or murder women at extraordinary rates, then continue to structurally fail DV & rape survivors
  • continue to allow skyfairydelusionalism to prevail over the rights of #LGBTQIA people
  • continue to structurally favour gross private-profiteering investors over housing rights for citizens
  • vote, election after election, for parties that continue to support fossilfools over climate & biodiversity
  • yada yada

it's pathetic... straya is pathetic... most strayans are pathetic.

#AusPol #WhyTheFuckIsLabor #HahahahaLiebs #NatsAreNuts #GreensYEAH #VoteGreens #VoteProgIndies #WeAreSelfishCruelBastards #WeAreTotallyFscked #Misanthropy

A rare conviction shows justice is possible, but the crisis remains. Since 1991, 618+ First Nations people have died in custody. Policies, neglect and racism kill, not “medical episodes”. Accountability delayed is justice denied.
#DeathsInCustody #FirstNations #Justice #Australia https://www.greenleft.org.au/2026/1445/news/first-nations-activists-keep-fight-stop-murders-custody
First Nations activists keep up fight to stop murders in custody

First Nations activists are leading the campaign to stop deaths in custody and for real accountability for those responsible, reports Isaac Nellist.

Green Left
2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 people who died in custody

The deaths came as the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement, detaining a record number of people

The Guardian
Aboriginal woman’s death in custody in NT prompts calls for independent investigation

Police say woman’s death in Tennant Creek appeared to be the result of a medical episode, but Aboriginal legal service says internal investigation is ‘not sufficient’

The Guardian
Ten years since David Dungay Jr died in jail, a rally to protest deaths in custody could test NSW’s new laws

Dunghutti man’s nephew says fight for justice ‘is not just political – it is spiritual, cultural, and about survival’

The Guardian

This is so sad, because this child deserved better.

The West Australian government needs to close Unit 18 now.

#auspol #DeathsinCustody

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/cleveland-dodds-care-in-youth-detention-inhumane-coroner-finds/106112004

Cleveland Dodd's care in youth detention 'inhumane', coroner examining Unit 18 death finds

Western Australia's first recorded death in youth detention was predictable, a coroner has found, finding the care of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd was "inhumane" and "reminiscent of 19th century jails". WARNING: This story contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.

ABC News
In their darkest moments, too many Australians are being met with lethal force instead of love and care

Police are often not equipped to deal with mental health callouts. Alternative first responders are better placed to de-escalate tension and reduce harm

The Guardian