“I Want Everyone To Know What They Did To My Brother”

As Black Lives Matter rallies sweep the globe, one Australian family is still waiting for justice – five years after David Dungay Jr died crying that he could not breathe.

PRIMER, 2020

Christine Dungay describes her baby brother David Dungay Jr as a gentle, loyal boy who followed her around like a shadow. He was 10 years her junior and, growing up, she doted on him. “I was his protector,” she says.

One of her clearest memories is of David running down the hallway on one of his first Christmas mornings. “The look on his face [when he saw his presents]… what can I say. He was this little short, fat fella with long, lovely hair and the biggest smile you ever saw.”  Her voice cracks.

This is the way that Christine remembers David.

To the rest of Australia, the name David Dungay Jr conjures up a far less innocent, more distressing moment.

On December 29, 2015, six prison officers carrying a riot shield stormed into David’s cell in Long Bay Prison after he refused to stop eating a packet of crackers.

The guards dragged him to another cell, where they restrained him, knelt on his back and injected him with a sedative. Throughout David’s final few moments – which were captured by CCTV – he repeatedly cried out that he couldn’t breathe. Even as his desperate pleas became panicked screams, the officers ignored him. One told David that if he could talk, he could breathe. At 2.49pm, David’s body went limp and he died. Later, his death was attributed to cardiac arrhythmia.

Since then, his family have campaigned tirelessly for accountability over David’s death, which came just six weeks before he was due for parole. The Dungays have marched in rallies, signed petitions and last year attended a coronial inquest into David’s death, which found that he should never have been forced out of his cell. Today they are still waiting for what their lawyer describes as “meaningful action”.

For the Dungays, the news of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, has brought their campaign – and their loss - into painful focus. “It’s like we’re losing him all over again,” says Christine. “It’s hard for me… I can’t even read [Facebook] posts [about Floyd]. I just keep scrolling because if I stop I’m crying.