Silent march to support family of man who died in custody

A silent protest for the death in custody of a 36-year-old Anaiwan man will march through the streets of western Sydney on Sunday.

Protesters hold signs during a rally calling for the end of Indigenous deaths in custody in Sydney. Source: AAP

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this article contains images of deceased persons.

This weekend will mark exactly one year since a 36-year-old Anaiwan man died while in custody inside Windsor’s minimum security prison.

While many families spend their Sunday celebrating Father’s Day, loved ones of Nathan Reynolds and members of the public will march silently through the streets of Western Sydney to remember a brother, son and father of one. 

For those affected, the last year has dragged by as they have awaited a report from the New South Wales coroner to determine what happened that night at Outer Metropolitan Multi-Purpose Correctional Centre, but it remains unclear when there will be answers.

According to his family and anonymous recounts from inmates, Mr Reynolds suffered a severe asthma attack at around 11pm. Along with his fellow inmates, Mr Reynolds made multiple desperate attempts for emergency assistance.

Their pleas allegedly went unanswered for twenty minutes and by the time guards reached Mr Reynolds, he was  found unresponsive. He died shortly afterwards. 

Mr Reynolds was a few days away from release after serving a four-month sentence for breaching a court order.

Nathan Reynolds, an Aboriginal man who died in police custody on 1 September. Source: Supplied

Raul Bassi, secretary with the Indigenous Social Justice Association, said Sunday's silent protest is in support of the Reynolds family.

“For them, it’s exhausting,” Mr Bassi said. “It’s a difficult situation – don’t know why it happened, don’t know why it takes so long. It’s a mental problem, an emotional problem for the family.

“We march because it’s a long period of time and we’re trying to get some sort of hope and possibilities – it doesn’t mean the possibilities will lead to something for sure, but at least for the family, it can give some sort of closure.”

The march will depart from Penrith Train Station at 11am on Sunday and comes days after hundreds of ‘Black Lives Matter’ demonstrators marched through Sydney's CBD demanding justice for Indigenous men, women and children who have died in custody or are victims in unsolved murders.

Elsewhere, in Victoria a coronial inquest into the 2017 death in custody of 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day continues.

Ms Day was taken into police custody from a regional Victorian train for the offence of public drunkenness.