Thirty police hurt in Sydney, Australia riot

AAP ^ | 16th February 2004 | AAP

[KangarooJacqui]

Thirty police hurt in riot February 16, 2004 6.10AM AEDT

THIRTY police officers were injured as they were pelted with bricks and Molotov cocktails during an overnight riot in inner-Sydney sparked by a youth's death.

Police reinforcements from across Sydney were called to Redfern after the riot by 100 youths broke out at about 6pm (AEDT) yesterday.

A police spokeswoman said the riot ended early today and four people were in custody, with police still at the scene.

It appears the incident was sparked by the death of a 17-year-old boy who was impaled on a metal fence after falling from his bicycle on Saturday.

Thomas Hickey died in hospital yesterday morning from his injuries.

His mother says her son was pursued by police, but they deny the allegation.

The police spokeswoman said 30 officers were injured but it was not yet clear how many required hospital treatment.

"Thirty police officers were injured to varying degrees," she said.

Reinforcements brought in from across Sydney included police rescue, the dog squad and highway patrol officers.

"I can confirm Molotov cocktails were used and there were bricks and bottles and such," the spokeswoman said.

The four people arrested are yet to be charged.

The spokeswoman said the arrests came during a police sweep of the area and were not directly related to the riot.

Redfern railway station has been reopened after being shut for several hours during the standoff.

AAP

[KangarooJacqui]

Horrifying... I just heard a report on the news that the rioters were subdued with high-pressure fire hoses.

I'm currently staying in Sydney's inner southwest (just a few minutes' drive from where this happened), and I wondered what the police sirens and choppers were all about.

Chilling to think this sort of thing can happen here. Sydney's fast turning into this side of the Pacific's Los Angeles or Chicago, in my opinion...

[debg]

Kid's name is Thomas Hickey..here's a photo:

[Tijeras_Slim]

Also interesting was the link on the page (upper right) to a Police probe of an anarchist website. What's going on down there?

[null and void]

Yikes!

[oldfart]

"What's going on down there?"

Evidently they're a bit further down the road to Socialism than we are. See what we have to look forward to?

[KangarooJacqui]

There's a reason I don't live in Sydney... no, scratch that, there is MANY reasons I don't live in Sydney.

This is just one of them.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

It appears the incident was sparked by the death of a 17-year-old boy who was impaled on a metal fence after falling from his bicycle on Saturday

That is a very weird way to die. It would have to be a very tall bicycle or very little fence.

Any more information on exactly how this happened?

[cyborg]

Yes there's not a lot of info in this story.

[mylife]

That is a very weird way to die. It would have to be a very tall bicycle or very little fence.

Those were my thoughts as well

[KangarooJacqui]

I saw the fence on the early morning TV news about half an hour ago... couldn't really tell how tall the fence was, but he could have been looking over his shoulder (he was being chased by police, according to reports) and rode his bike into the kerbside at speed, thereby flipping him upwards onto the fence.

The shots of the riot were just awful, though. Police with riot shields, lined up... kids throwing stones, rockets, one police officer was hit by a flying brick...

[KangarooJacqui]

Alright, alright, I'm new at this "breaking news on FR" business... ;-)

(This from http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1258&storyid=903220 - does that help a little more?)

POLICE have denied they were chasing a teenager when he was flung off his bicycle and impaled on a metal fence, suffering fatal injuries.

Thomas Hickey died in Sydney's Children's Hospital yesterday of chest, neck and internal injuries after what police said was a tragic and freak accident.

Police would not comment whether there was an arrest warrant out for the 17-year-old, who died just minutes after spotting officers.

The youth's mother Gail Hickey said witnesses saw the teenager being chased by police just before he came off his bike and was impaled on the fence in inner-city Waterloo.

"Police chased him," she said.

"Four people saw him and they said police chased him."

Redfern Police held a press conference yesterday to ask for witnesses to come forward.

Inspector Bob Emery said there was no pursuit and at the time of the accident police were patrolling several blocks from where the incident occurred.

"They were some distance [away]. They were in the area patrolling," he said yesterday.

Minutes before, police and the boy had crossed paths but they did not try to pursue him because he was not a person of interest, Insp Emery said.

Asked whether Hickey may have been fleeing because he saw the police, Insp Emery said it was impossible to know what the youth had been thinking.

Asked about reports that a warrant was out for Hickey's arrest, Insp Emery replied: "That's not an issue.

"He wasn't being sought by the police, he wasn't a person of interest to them."

Insp Emery said witnesses saw the youth flung into the air but, apart from the bike having "virtually no brakes" he was unsure what happened.

"I don't think that it will happen again in another 100 years," he said.

"It is a tragedy all round to lose a 17-year-old in such a freak accident."

He also said the fence was not dangerous and did not have pointed palings.

"I don't think you would see it as an accident waiting to happen," he said.

Mrs Hickey described her son as "little for being 17" with a happy personality.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner on the death.

[prion]

Is this just poor people rioting against "the establishment" or is there some sort of ethnic issue or overzealous police behind this, or what? Usually, people have smoldered for a long time before they break out in rioting.

[wretchard]

The aborigines have pretty much been destroyed by welfare and reservation policies that have turned many into alcoholics and criminals. There's a whole industry devoted to keeping the aborigines in the 'victim' condition. This is so bizarre that people who look absolutely white style themselves as aboriginal leaders. It confuses the hell out of Asian-Australians, probably because they have the sense to see the occasional absurdity of it.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

Sydney's great, just don't go into Redfern.

Something bad is always happening in Redfern, the hotbed of indigenous malcontents and mischief makers.


And remember the most effective way to end war and ensure peace is to kill the enemy.

[Phsstpok]

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?

This story has been "sanitized" to be politically correct, but doing that makes it much less informative;

Now, this is a much better version of the story with context (though I don't think it's all that politically incorrect in any way... but that's just me):

Teenager's death triggers fiery Aboriginal rampage

By Tim Dick , Jennifer Cooke and Alexandra Smith
February 16, 2004
 

Fury and tragedy...Redfern station burns during the height of the confrontation between local Aboriginal people and police following the death of Thomas Hickey, right. Main photo: Edwina Pickles

 

Teenager's death triggers fiery Aboriginal rampage
By Tim Dick , Jennifer Cooke and Alexandra Smith
February 16, 2004

 

Redfern railway station was set ablaze, windows were smashed and at least one police officer was taken to hospital as Aborigines went on a rampage last night in a furious response to the death of a teenage boy.

Trains were ordered not to stop at the station from about 9.30 as Aborigines began gathering and fire crews and police reinforcements were called in.

Up to 60 police officers in riot gear, seven fire engines, 15 police cars and two ambulances converged on the Lawson Street block from Regent Street to Abercrombie Street.

The death of 17-year-old Thomas Hickey on Saturday was the trigger that reignited simmering Aboriginal anger over policing in the area.

Thomas, TJ to those who knew him, died in hospital early yesterday morning from neck and chest injuries after being impaled on a fence while cycling home on Phillip Street. His family claims he was being chased by police when the accident happened, a charge the police reject.

As police moved in last night the rioters torched the entrance of the station using a liquid accelerant splashed from a bottle. Sticks wrapped with burning material were used to set alight furniture in the street.

Flames billowed from the station entrance as police in riot gear advanced three-deep towards a man at the top of Eveleigh Street. At least one police officer was carried to an ambulance.

Bottles were hurled at the station wall, leaving a thick carpet of broken glass along the footpath. Rioters stole a baton from a police car and used it to smash all the windows on the Lawson Street side of the station as well as several police windscreens.

Locals described the riot as the biggest they had seen in years. Alastair Cameron, an events manager of Little Eveleigh Street, said the rioters had been throwing bottles and bricks at the station and onto its roof from about 7pm. At one stage they had set fire to plastic street barriers and a car driven into the barriers was left to burn.

Late last night one person had been arrested and all available police from the inner metropolitan commands were sent to Redfern. About 11.30 a line of police officers in riot gear faced about 50 Aborigines.

Thomas's aunt, Virginia, said: "If you're black and see a police car, you just run." She believes police were chasing him as he rode back to her home, where he lived, about 11.15am on Saturday after visiting his mother.

Thomas's mother, Gail, said witnesses had told her that police were chasing him before the accident, and that officers had pulled him off the fence and searched his pockets before he was taken to Prince of Wales Hospital.

A warrant is believed to have been issued for the teenager's arrest. However, Inspector Bob Emery insists that at the time Thomas was not "a person of interest" to police, who were "blocks away" when he lost control of the bicycle.

Inspector Emery said a member of the public had flagged down passing police and told them where they were needed.

A spokesman for the mourning family, Lyall Munro, said "as far as we're concerned, it's an Aboriginal death in custody", because the family said Thomas had died while being chased by police.

Inspector Emery appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Earlier yesterday flyers were handed out with a picture of police and reading: "Wanted: child murderers. There is a gang of child killers operating in the Redfern area. They can be easily identified as they all dress the same."

 

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/15/1076779843405.html

[luvbach1]

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

[KangarooJacqui]

Thanks. This isn't my first trip to Sydney, I know to avoid Redfern (especially on foot). It's just one of many areas (for various reasons) to avoid, unfortunately.

I also know about the "industry" devoted to keeping indigenous Australians (we're not supposed to call them "Aboriginies" anymore, because that is exclusive of the Torres Strait Islanders)... it's called ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) and it was the creation of the bleeding-heart lefties of the last Labor Government who comprised Australia's ruling party Federally from 1983 until 1996. (And you lot thought 8 years of Clinton was bad... *shudder*)

It's a big scam and benefits very few people, while the vast majority of indigenous Australians remain poor, uneducated and in many cases lacking basic health care (all the sorts of things that ATSIC's enormous budget was supposed to fix.)

[luvbach1]

So they were Abos.

[luvbach1]

Stupid PC dictum since indigenous means aboriginal.

[debg]

Thanks for the article. It makes sense that the kid was probably aborigine, esp. with his name. Apparently Redfern community is home to the indigenous.

[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.

[Huber]

The Ozzies forgot to ban molotov cocktails when they banned guns! Heck, with the strict gun laws in Australia, they shouldn't really even need a police force anymore. I wonder what went wrong.../sarcasm

[archy]

What's going on down there?

Sounds like a bit of advance publicity for the forthcoming Mad Max IV film, "Fury Road"....

[risk]

What were Australians thinking when they decided to disarm the populace? It must be a continual frustration to your fellow patriots. Is any sort of popular initiative working to reverse the situation?

As we often say here, stay safe.

[ARA]

What does that statement mean... You see the report as stated and make that statement about the Aussies... I didn't think that at all... what about the riots in LA....

[the invisib1e hand]

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

they also chase suspects.

[archy]

(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!)

Particularly the ones on the *All Blacks* team....

[KangarooJacqui]

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

they also chase suspects.

Well, the police are sticking to the story that they weren't chasing this guy... he just saw a squad car on a routine patrol and bolted.

The Premier of the State of New South Wales (that's what we call 'em here - not Governors), however, did announce in a press conference early this afternoon that independent official inquiries would be made into police conduct at both the original incident and the riots that ensued.

[KangarooJacqui]

oldfart was replying to Tjeras_Slim's comment about an entirely different story about anarchists, which has NOTHING to do with this story.

The anarchists in question are probably white, and reside in Melbourne, a town in a different state and fully 600 miles away from where the incident this thread is about took place. In other words, the two stories are NOT related.

This is a race-related thing, you're right, ARA. Just like the LA riots post-Rodney King verdict.

[KangarooJacqui]

What were Australians thinking when they decided to disarm the populace? It must be a continual frustration to your fellow patriots. Is any sort of popular initiative working to reverse the situation?

The Port Arthur massacre (Tasmania, 1996) pretty much stunned a lot of people - you know, sort of like 9/11 did for you guys? I could ask the same questions of Americans and the "liberties" that were taken from you in the wake of that episode in history!

As I recall, at the time there was an outcry, but the ban only applies to certain types of weapons (semi- and fully-automatics, amongst others - I'm no gun expert so I can't give full details...) However, contrary to the perception I'm seeing reflected back through certain posts on this thread, it wasn't like they decided NOBODY was going to be allowed ANY firearms. Plenty of people are still armed, there is just much tighter controls than in the US about who gets a gun licence and what sort of firearms they are allowed to keep.

And Australia, for all the images of the outback and the kangaroos and so forth that you guys up there might associate with us, is one of the most urbanised nations on earth. A lot of us have had nothing whatsoever to do with firearms in our entire lives. We are creatures of the suburbs or of the big cities... and as such, the closest we get to a gun is seeing one on a policeman's belt.

I might remind you that I am the widow of a FReeper who was a man who believed patriotism wasn't all about owning a gun (he never had very much to do with them in his lifetime, or in death if anyone was wondering!)

I happen to be a proud Australian who has always believed much the same thing... and unlike the US, where I saw "I shoot and I vote" bumper stickers, showing up on polling day is compulsory in this country, and most of us don't (and didn't) carry firearms. "I vote Conservative, I don't shoot..." and nationally, we're the majority.

[NZerFromHK]

In fact Chicago seems to be pretty peaceful when the issue race-related riots comes up. Detroit (city, not the suburb) and New Orleans are much worse (and Cleveland was). LA seems to be on the edge for quite some time but I heard things have been cooling down ever since it has a new Police Commissioner in 2001 and also presumably because the spectre of 9/11 and terrorism have tamed these things.

Sydney is quite conservative (politically, not socially) on many things, and to be blunt I suspect this type of riot comes up when a group of minority accepts victimized status and blames other people for their woes, and refusing to accept personal responsbilities. They were just making excuses to riot and to "raise their grievances".

And the leader of an Australian state is indeed the Premier. Governor is basically a symbolic post appointed by the Queen, nominated by the state Premier.