Thirty police hurt in Sydney, Australia riot

AAP ^ | 16th February 2004 | AAP

[KangarooJacqui]

"Kids not an Anglo, so is he an aborigine, asian/Idian/African immigrant or perhaps an Arab/Muslim? What is the nature of the neighberhoods where the riots took place? Why would a particular community react this way? Has there been a "long history" of cops killing members of one community or another? Also, this picture makes him look about 12. Is he really that age?"

Some background. The area is predominantly Aboriginal. The nature of the area is poor, run-down government housing and it has a history of being not the sort of place you go if you're white. The community reacted this way because of what they perceive as "police persecution" - in a similar way as African Americans complain about the same thing. However, this level of violence does not happen regularly.

And yes the kid was seventeen. He was described by many, including his mother, as "small for his age" - read, probably undernourished, perhaps his mother drank or smoked or took other drugs whilst pregnant.

Thanks for the Sydney Morning Herald article, by the way. I've had my hands full responding to posts on this (guess I won't get any sleep at all this morning... oh well!)

[KangarooJacqui]

So they were Abos.

Yes. However don't say that too loudly... (!!! The Politically-correct crowd may be watching!)

[Psycho_Bunny]

Unless there's a lot more to this story than is being told, these people were desperately looking for a reason to riot.  Sounds like a minor tow-stubbing on a public telephone booth would do it.

[KangarooJacqui]

Perps commit offenses and police sometimes chase them. Since when is that police misconduct?

I'll point out that I wasn't the one who made that claim. What I'm surprised about is that more arrests weren't made. Over thirty police were injured, but only FOUR people were arrested, and another four issued with warnings... out of more than 100 troublemakers!

Oh, another thing - police are definitely underpaid in this town. $42,000 a year is a pittance in a city as expensive as Sydney is to live in (in terms of house prices, rentals, utilities and other essential items...) - no wonder, really, if people see this sort of thing and decide against a career in the New South Wales police.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Thanks for the further information. He still would have had to been going very fast or the fence was low for him to have been flung that way. I have gone sailing over the handlebars a few times and there is no way I got enough lift to go on to a fence. Into a fence yes, but not on to it.

But now I can at least see it happening.

[KangarooJacqui]

Unless there's a lot more to this story than is being told, these people were desperately looking for a reason to riot. Sounds like a minor tow-stubbing on a public telephone booth would do it.

It has been unseasonably hot in Sydney, for probably about two weeks now.

That said, the Redfern area is where some of the fairly radical element of Aboriginal leadership congregates also... I suspect a closer look at this might reveal Aborginies being whipped up into this sort of fervour by the "Aboriginal industry" I alluded to earlier, who thrive on this sort of thing so that they can throw up their hands and say "oh aren't we put-upon, aren't we oppressed" etc. Odds-on, there is FAR more to this than currently meets the eye. Bear in mind that these riots were finally quelled only about three hours ago, and eastern Australia is getting up and getting ready to go to work on what is here a Monday morning... so expect the serious investigative journalism to be a little longer in coming. (Given the left-wing bias of the media in this country, that is if any real investigating is done by the mainstream media AT ALL...)

[KangarooJacqui]

Actually, just found this... (from http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1258&storyid=905043 by Scott Jenkins)

ANGRY Redfern residents have started a campaign against the police officers they say were responsible for the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey.

Mock wanted posters, put up all over Redfern yesterday, accused police of being "child killers" and warn they should not be approached because they are armed.

The posters feature pictures of two high-profile senior officers, and an unidentified junior officer.

The posters were taped to power poles and stuck up around the Redfern railway station in the late afternoon.

Soon after the posters went up, tensions began to rise in the inner-city suburb.

The posters were created after resident "frustration" over their attempts to have what they see as the truth come out.

Redfern Police held a press conference yesterday and denied the teenager was pursued by police. Witnesses were asked to come forward.

Inspector Bob Emery said that at the time of the accident, police were patrolling several blocks from where Thomas was riding his bike.

"They were some distance [away]. They were in the area patrolling in line with community expectations I think," he said.

[luvbach1]

Didnt imply that you made or joined in claim of police misconduct, just commenting on it.

[KangarooJacqui]

Sydney's great

Let me guess, you're not a local are you?

As a girl born in Perth, raised and educated in Melbourne, and now a proud Queenslander, I'd rather live in just about ANY other capital city in Australia - with the possible exception of Adelaide or Canberra. :-)

[KangarooJacqui]

Downunder ping...

(you sure you want to come to this part of the world? The Aboriginies are the supposed "peaceable" race... New Zealand's Maori cause even more trouble!)

[BurbankKarl]

do they have a waiting period for molotov cocktails down there?

[KangarooJacqui]

do they have a waiting period for molotov cocktails down there?

LOL. :-P No, just firearms. Oh, and for firearms they do a criminal record check and a mental illness history check, too... which would have ruled most of these troublemakers out for those, one way or another.

[judgeandjury]

Thomas's aunt, Virginia, said: "If you're black and see a police car, you just run."

And by doing so, you bring attention to yourself, and the police are probably going to chase after you to determine why you ran at the sight of the police.

[BurbankKarl]

There has been, of course, no improvement in the actual murder rate in Australia since the 1996 gun bans. It has become a common trick in gun-banning countries to bring all deaths by shooting, including suicide, into a subset of their own and then to claim that “gun deaths” are declining after the passage of legislation. The Australian murder rate has not dropped, and neither has the suicide rate. People continue to kill themselves and one another, but the fact that fewer guns are involved in these deaths is supposedly a great triumph of public policy. Prime Minister Howard has stopped claiming that his gun laws actually saved lives. While the media have very carefully examined the government’s justifications for Australia participation in Gulf War II, Howard is being given a free pass for his sleight of hand on the benefits of gun confiscation.

[KangarooJacqui]

Thomas's aunt, Virginia, said: "If you're black and see a police car, you just run."

And by doing so, you bring attention to yourself, and the police are probably going to chase after you to determine why you ran at the sight of the police.

The police are sticking to their story that they weren't chasing him... and from watching the morning TV channels (which now have email feedback lines) it seems that a great many people are sick and tired of the culture of "political correctness" which has allowed this sort of thing to go on, albeit usually on a smaller scale and without the riot squad (as well as what sounded like half of Sydney's police force) being called in to assist.

To put it in American terms, it's time to start kicking @$$ and taking names. More arrests are expected throughout the day (currently it's about 9.45am Sydney time).

[risk]

...no wonder, really, if people see this sort of thing and decide against a career in the New South Wales police.

The P.C. nonsense always makes our brave law enforcement personnel pay, doesn't it? I hope you can tell that American FReepers are all sad about the injuries to your Aussie policemen. Besides, we know it can happen here anytime. That evil anarchist flag is flying everywhere these days. I saw one in a news report on a "peaceful" protest in S.F. just yesterday. They flutter back and forth like a plague warning...

[Imal]

This article is most remarkable for what it does not report.

[dsc]

I wouldn't presume to offer advice to another country, considering that my own has been so pathetically incompetent in dealing with this sort of thing, but there are some things I'd like to see the U.S. do.

1. Make it clear that if you're running from the police, you're already in the wrong. When the police say, "Stop," you're supposed to stop. What happens to a person who runs is entirely his own fault, up to and including having two warning shots fired into the back of his head.

2. Give State governors the authority to declare rioters in a condition of insurrection, and to authorize police and National Guardsmen to deal with them accordingly. Which, of course, means calling on them to surrender, then killing those who don't by the shipload.

[KangarooJacqui]

The P.C. nonsense always makes our brave law enforcement personnel pay, doesn't it? I hope you can tell that American FReepers are all sad about the injuries to your Aussie policemen.

Later reports today (early afternoon here in Sydney) have the number of policemen injured at fifty (some of them apparently pretty badly, too). The footage that's been shown on TV is just shocking. The friend I'm staying with used to live in a directly adjoining suburb to this one, and told me this morning she was glad she no longer did.

Further threats of violence towards the police have been made, and I fear this could be just the start.

This sort of thing just never happened in Australia when I was growing up, but the indigineous malcontents are stirring up hatred amongst their young, and a line is being drawn in the sand. Where is it going to end?

I think what I find most appalling is the sheer youth of some of the rioters. Some of those kids looked barely ten years old... it reminded me eerily of footage of Palestinian boys throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers.