Black Lives Matter protest blocks Captain Cook Bridge on-ramp
A Black Lives Matter rally is blocking the Alice Street on-ramp to the Captain Cook Bridge in Brisbane, calling on MPs to "come down and listen to the vulnerable people who are dying at the hands of their system".
Police and security had expected protesters to gather at the front of Parliament House but the march of about 100 people turned down Alice Street to block the on-ramp to the Captain Cook Bridge about 1pm on Wednesday.
Black Lives Matter protesters block the Captain Cook Bridge on-ramp.Credit:Lydia Lynch
Security guards were sent running to lock the side gates of the building while the protest surged forward.
Protesters chanted "I want justice" as they walked to the bridge.
Police officers were forming a barricade in an effort to stop protesters from moving towards the bridge and traffic.
Protesters sat in the middle of the road, most wearing face masks and holding flyers featuring the faces of people including Ms Dhu and Veronica Baxter - two Indigenous women who died in custody.
Lead protester Wayne Wharton was taken into custody and the rally has moved on towards the Brisbane watchhouse.
Mr Wharton's daughter Ruby said the protest was about Black Lives Matter and stopping deaths in custody.
"We want the Parliament to come down and listen to the vulnerable people who are dying at the hands of their system, but instead they lock the gates," she said.
Queensland police formed a barricade to keep protesters at bay from traffic.
"They have got to come outside and address us, it is a reflection on them if they feel threatened by black bodies, we don't have guns.
"We don't have any status in society, we don't have shit and this Parliament is meant to arrest us as well."