On Friday 19 November 2004, 36-year-old Palm Island resident Cameron Doomadgee was arrested for public drunkenness and died in police custody an hour later. The coroner's report was released on Friday 26 November, and read to a community meeting. After hearing that Doomadgee had died from a ruptured liver in the scuffle at the island's watch-house, a succession of angry young Aboriginal men spoke to the crowd and encouraged immediate action be taken against the police. Doomadgee's death was repeatedly branded "cold-blooded murder". Wotton joined 1,000 other people in a riot on Palm Island that resulted in the police station, the court house, and the home of the officer-in-charge being burned down. In a Friday interview with The Courier-Mail, Wotton justified the riot, saying that the residents did not believe the death was an accident and the residents had set fire to the police station because they had been "crying out for help" and no one had listened. Additionally, Wotton sought an investigation by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) and wanted the government to agree to move all police from the island.
