Daniel Alfred Yock

Yock was born on 7 February 1975 at the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement where he grew up. Though only earning a paltry sum, they would perform regularly at local festivals and schools. ==Death==

Yock's death occurred on 7 November 1993, shortly after being arrested by police for disorderly conduct. He had been drinking with friends at Musgrave Park in South Brisbane when a police van from the West End police station began surveillance on the group of men, after which two more police vehicles arrived. An autopsy was conducted by a Queensland Government pathologist who found Yock's death was caused by Ischaemic heart disease and the narrowing of the arteries with a significant impairment of the right coronary artery detected. An amount of cannabis and a high blood alcohol content was also detected in Yock's body. It was also reported that Yock had experienced a number of fainting spells in the past including one that had been recorded on video during one of his boxing matches. A cardiologist also suggested Yock may have had Stokes-Adams syndrome which could have contributed to his death. ==Reaction==

Queensland premier Wayne Goss said the circumstances surrounding Yock being arrested, placed in a police van, and then being found dead would raise serious questions in the mind of any reasonable person. Several people were injured including five protesters and at least four police officers. Questions were raised about various issues pertaining to how the Queensland Police Service dealt with Aboriginal people, including unwarranted surveillance, racial profiling and stop and searches. ==Inquiries==

An inquiry was held by the Criminal Justice Commission, chaired by Lewis Wyvill QC. A 103-page report was handed down on 5 April 1994. It found that Yock's arrest was lawful and that the response by the Queensland Police Service was appropriate, clearing the police officers of any wrongdoing. Premier Wayne Goss requested an apology from those who had made allegations of police brutality and called on Aboriginal leaders to ensure that the wider Aboriginal community accepted the findings. Aboriginal representatives called for a national day of action on 20 April 1994. During that inquiry, a medical practitioner testified that it was "highly improbable" that he had died from a Stokes-Adams attack. That inquiry concluded that he had been unconscious because of the way he had been treated by the police. It found all six police officers involved in Yock's arrest to be directly responsible for his death. The findings of the Worker's Inquiry were not acted upon by the authorities. ==Legacy==

After witnessing Yock's death in the back of the police van, Joseph Blair was deeply affected. Kev Carmody's 1995 song "The Young Dancer Is Dead" is about Yock. Yock's death and the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody are explored in Ruby Langford Ginibi's 1999 book Haunted by the Past. During the Black Lives Matter protests in Brisbane on 6 June 2020, some protesters held signs which included Yock's name. ==See also==