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February 14, 2024 is the 20th anniversary of the death in custody of Thomas (TJ) Hickey. The 17- year-old Gamilaraay boy was being chased by two police paddy wagons through Redfern when he was thrown from his push bike and impaled on a fence. TJ’s mother, Gail Hickey, backed by the movement campaigning to stop deaths in custody, has been fighting for truth and justice ever since.
The Indigenous Social Justice Association — Melbourne (ISJA - Melb), which formed in the lead up to the first anniversary of TJ’s death, is holding a speak-out at the Victorian State Library at noon on 17 February, 2024.
Cheryl Kaulfuss, one of the speak-out organisers, said: “this action, which we are organising with the support of Gail Hickey, will be an important opportunity to honour the memory of TJ Hickey and also to show solidarity with the many families who have lost a loved one in police and prison custody. We demand justice for TJ and all who have died in police and prison custody.”
Alison Thorne, also from ISJA - Melb, added “TJ’s death highlights that there are inadequate mechanisms to hold police accountable. We demand an end to the practice of police investigating police. What’s needed is the establishment of independent bodies, with real powers, to control the police and for these bodies to be directly accountable to the community.”
Gail, the family and their supporters are fighting hard for a permanent memorial to TJ that reflects what actually happened. Cheryl Kaulfuss explains: “the family was gifted a memorial plaque for display at the site where TJ was impaled during a police pursuit. Authorities will not let the plaque go up unless the wording is changed to remove all reference to the police and to present the death as a tragic accident. This obfuscation of what happened is completely unacceptable to Gail Hickey and we support her fight to have the plaque displayed publicly with its original wording.”
The speak-out will also be demanding that all 339 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody be implemented in full. Alison Thorne argues “it is disgraceful that almost three and a half decades after they were released that these vital recommendations have still not be implemented in full.”
The landmark report of the Royal Commission found that over-incarceration of First Nations people was the key factor contributing to the shockingly high rates of Indigenous deaths in custody. Racial profiling and over policing contributes directly to growing First Nations imprisonment. Thorne adds: “TJ was racially profiled when he was wrongly chased by police, who were looking for another person suspected of bag snatching.”
Representatives of ISJA - Melb are available for interview.
Contact:
• Cheryl Kaulfuss: 0401 806 331
• David Pollock: 0407 496 799