Posted on 12/11/2005 4:26:19 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
ANGRY crowds have singled out and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance at Sydney's Cronulla beach as racial tension erupted into violence.
And an ambulance called to the scene to treat five people injured in today's violence has been attacked by a mob who shattered its windows. Meanwhile, police have been pelted with beer bottles, and their patrol cars stomped on, as the outnumbered officers struggled to maintain control.
Witnesses saw officers using capsicum spray in a bid to quell those perpetrating the violence.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin said police were forcing their way through the crowd, trying to prevent further attacks.
He said a number of people had been assaulted but could not say exactly how many. However, an ambulance spokesman said at least five people had been injured.
It was those people the ambulance was trying to reach when it was attacked.
"An ambulance attempting to transport five injured people from the scene was set upon by a large group of people who smashed its windows," an ambulance spokesman said.
Mr Goodwin said today's violence was disgusting.
"What has been occurring on some fronts is that people of Middle Eastern backgrounds that have been seen in the Cronulla area – a swarm of the crowd has approached these people with vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way," Mr Goodwin said.
"We have a number of reports of persons that have been assaulted."
He said the bulk of the crowd had behaved but pockets of violence had broken out.
"... we have sections of the crowd that have swollen towards young Arabic males and females, who have been using this beach."
Three people have been arrested so far, with more arrests expected.
Earlier today, police rushed to Cronulla train station where a mob ran there from the foreshore after receiving a text message saying a group of Lebanese people were trying to leave. Mr Goodwin said the text message was wrong, but sparked a scuffle at the station between the crowd and police.
"The behaviour that's been seen down here at Cronulla today is nothing short of disgusting and disgraceful," he told reporters at the beach.
"It's certainly not the Australian way.
He appealed for calm in the beachside suburb in Sydney's south.
"These people are from an area that is a peaceful suburb ... and what they are doing to their area at the moment, fuelled by people from other areas as well, is nothing short of disgraceful."
Earlier, a police spokeswoman said two men, aged 32 and 20, had been charged with offensive behaviour.
A third man had been arrested and was expected to be charged with assault, she said.
It was not clear if any of the arrests related to earlier witness reports of at least three men being pursued and attacked as they tried to get away from angry members of the crowd chasing them on foot.
At least two of the men took refuge at Northies Pub, where police gathered to protect them.
Roads were closed down as the violence flared today, with mounted police trying to maintain control lines as a police chopper hovered over the beach.
Some bars and shops along the beach have temporarily closed. Others have bouncers stationed at the door, blocking anyone from going inside.
Authorities had expected trouble today after two violent incidents at the beach last week – an attack on two lifeguards on Sunday and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew. A series of text messages then began circulating, encouraging members of two rival groups of beach users to attack each other.
One of the messages had urged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs". Another urged locals to rally at a point on the beach today to take retaliation against "middle eastern" gangs.
As the 5,000-strong crowd moved along the beach and foreshore area today, one man on the back of a ute began to shout "No more Lebs" – a chant picked up by the group around him.
Others in the crowd, carrying Australian flags and dressed in Australian shirts, yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ... Oi, Oi, Oi".
Authorities spent last week calling for calm, and Mr Iemma today said he would amend the law so that thugs who assaulted lifeguards could face the maximum 25 years in jail.
The amendment would allow courts to consider it an aggravating factor if an assault victim was a volunteer.
"Those who selflessly give up their time to save people in distress on the beach should not be considered easy targets by thugs and hooligans," Mr Iemma.
"We are going to back them with extra protection that will ensure that judges take into account their status in the community when sentencing."
At Cronulla, amid endless violence, ambulance officers were attacked, and a woman thrown on the ground and kicked unconscious - she was rescued by police.
But apparently the situation is even more out of control at Maroubra, where there are mobs stoning every car that comes along.
Fights and brawls are nothing new on Sydney beaches, but the extent of this is quite different. The police need to get tougher, and a ban on alcohol consumption would be appropriate.
Ping
"Seems our thirty year investment in multiculteralism is finally "paying" dividends..."
To be fair, the muslims were not the ones rioting this time around. Your news item indicates as much quite clearly.
That said, the muslims' refusal to integrate with civilized societies in the root cause for these tensions. If only they learned about concepts like patriotism, civic sense, and the like.....we'll that's expecting too much from these barbarians.
As an American, who does not understand your lingo, please explain this better. I figure this may be another ROP uprising, or is it otherwise? what precipitated it?
...There were also reports of crowd trouble at beachside suburbs of Kyeemagh and Brighton Le Sands, in Sydney's south. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17535504-2,00.html
Please use parantheses/brackets/() when you change the headline. The "Aussie race riots" part is not a part of the original headline as your thread suggests.
They also have to accept that rape and assault are not a part of Aussie life. Recent incidents have led to today's backlash.
I'm not going to encourage violence, but I am surprised that it's taken so long for something like this to happen. It is time to end multiculturalism as peacefully as possible.
That's perfectly understandable.....I remember the rape incidents from a couple of years ago (?). I have no pity for the rag heads because their eventual goal is to subvert civilized societies and replace civil law with Islam.
A very nice beach-front area, most civilized and pleasant - usually. Does not have surf, therefore not the youth culture which is sometimes rowdy.
All the problems are caused by DRINK, and bored young people with nothing to do on Sunday night. Once upon a time, in Sydney, there was no Sunday drinking. Alcohol could not be sold on a Sunday, out of respect for the Sabbath. A rule established by the Presberterians, who, it seems knew how to keep public order. They also used to oblige the youth to go to Sunday School, maybe they were right.
They also have to accept that rape and assault are not a part of Aussie life. Recent incidents have led to today's backlash.
From the Aussies I know, I see nothing "Un-Australian" about finally getting fed up and kicking some @ss.
I make it a point not to get them mad.
Why, I don't even rape their daughters and sisters! These protected minorities are lucky to be alive. I am amazed at the restraint shown by the Aussie public to date.
A little background to the events of Sunday:
Not on our beach
By STEVE GEE and LUKE McILVEEN
December 09, 2005
HE grew up surfing Cronulla's famous breaks - and now police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin is going after the thugs who threaten to ruin the beach for everyone.
The keen surfer yesterday vowed to bring order to the beach where he learned to ride a board, amid growing fears a planned brawl at North Cronulla on Sunday could turn into a race riot.
"The Australian way is about coming to the beach with your towel and sunscreen, and maybe a book, and lying back and relaxing," Mr Goodwin said yesterday. "It is not about congregating and swarming in groups for any sort of anti-social behaviour."
In a stern warning to youths planning to head to North Cronulla looking for trouble, Mr Goodwin vowed to restore order to the beach.
"No one owns the beach," he said. "The beach is a resource for all of Sydney.
"We have ethnic populations that are just as entitled to use this beach."
The warning came as police yesterday flooded Cronulla with dozens of officers patrolling on foot, motorbikes, horses, in cars and the Polair helicopter, amid concerns a turf war could erupt between locals and gangs of youths of Middle Eastern background. As revealed by The Daily Telegraph yesterday, local surfers have issued a call to arms as part of a vigilante campaign to drive youths of Middle Eastern background away from Cronulla.
The disturbing SMS campaign urges "Aussies" to attack "Lebs and wogs" at Cronulla at midday on Sunday.
The tensions exploded after two volunteer lifeguards were bashed by a Middle Eastern gang as they carried out routine patrols at North Cronulla last Sunday.
Mr Goodwin said a detective task force had been set up to find out who was behind the messages and to convince youths not to take matters into their own hands.
"We do not need the aggro from groups of local people," he said.
"What we're asking is for the local kids to trust the police and don't ramp it up and escalate it."
The 48-year-old father of two teenage sons has a detailed knowledge of Cronulla beach culture, growing up in the area and surfing there since he was 10.
Reluctant to reveal whether he stills lives in the area, Mr Goodwin said he was well-versed in the passion and rivalry of the southern Sydney strip.
"First and foremost it's a fantastic area and part of Sydney, but like a lot of beaches there can be tension between locals and people from other suburbs," he said.
"For the locals, because they live in the area, there's a passion about the beach which creates a sense of ownership and even on a micro level you get `it's my wave', then there's the rivalry between older surfers and grommets (young surfers). But it's about everyone sharing ... what we have seen lately is unacceptable."
Premier Morris Iemma urged locals to stay calm and ignore calls to violence.
"I can understand the anger, the red-hot anger of people but don't take the law into your own hands," he said.
Opposition Leader Peter Debnam called for police to be given permission to take a zero-tolerance approach to youths who threatened to turn Cronulla into a battleground. "These thugs need to be arrested and locked up," he said.
Police have charged an 18-year-old and a 20-year-old man over the recent violence at the beach.
It's difficult from the article to tell what really happened. Was this a gang related incident? A public reaction to a handful of rowdy Mid-eastern acts of inciting a riot? or are all the emergency services and police following a policy of PC that seems to also apply to the Aussie press in the article composition after an Islamic assault and the Aussie public 'ain't gonna take it, anymore'?
Sunday drinking is now well established in every State in Australia. Any particular reason it's having this effect only in Sydney?
I think PC has a lot to do with it...
I wasn't aware that muslims were big surfers. Do their surfer girls wear burkas?
Tim Priest:
'Don't Turn a Blind Eye to Terror in Our Midst'.
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0104/64.html
Wet chiffon,..hubba, hubba
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.