Advocate for ending Indigenous Deaths in Custody and BLM threatened with death threats, home invasions

Paul Silva is a proud Dunghuttii man who advocates for accountability, independent investigations, stopping deaths in custody, and Black Lives Matter. His campaigning came at a serious cost to him and his family. On the way to a protest, he received a test message that threatened the life of every rally participant.

---

Paul’s uncle, David Dungay Jr, was killed while in custody at Long Bay Correctional Centre in 2015, in circumstances similar to George Floyd’s death in the USA.

The similarity between the two cases, Black deaths in custody in the US and in Australia, led Paul Silva to organise the Sydney Black Lives Matter rally in October 2022, which was attended by an estimated 20,000 people during NSW’s COVID-induced public health orders.

In the midst of the BLM campaign Paul Silva and his family were targeted with threats of violence and death threats, and he had to work with NSW Police, and then the Australian Federal Police, as a result.