 BATTLE LINES: Youths burn a mattress in Macquarie Fields during a third night of violence over the death of two teenagers in a police pursuit. |
Posted on 02/28/2005 3:01:26 PM PST by NZerFromHK
Dozens of youths in Sydney's south-west hurled petrol bombs at riot police in a third night of violence last night over the death of two teenagers in a police pursuit.
In wild scenes near Eucalyptus Drive, Macquarie Fields - where their friends died on Friday night - teenagers and young men screamed at about 100 police: "You killed our mates, you f---ing pigs. You deserve to die too."
Residents of Rosewood Drive clapped and cheered as a policeman was knocked down and could not get up, as a youth hit him with a heavy plank of wood.
By 1am today (3am NZT), the protest had grown to about 200 young people confronting police. Police decided to act when a car was set alight in Eucalyptus Drive, just before 11pm. They marched up Rosewood Drive and into Eucalyptus Drive chanting "move, move, move". Youths used rocks, golf balls, wheelie bins, bricks and other projectiles to resist them.
A car drove quickly through the police line and shopping trolleys were used as battering rams. At one stage four youths used a burning mattress to threaten officers.
By 11.30pm the group had been driven about 100 metres up the road, but the police line was sporadically broken by charges from the retreating youths.
After a confrontation in the street on Saturday night, police said yesterday a taskforce would be set up to review media footage of attacks on police. Task Force Loudon was established following rioting after the deaths of Dyllan Raywood, 17, and Matthew Robertson, 19, about 11pm on Friday. They were passengers in a stolen car that hit a tree in Eucalyptus Drive with an unmarked police vehicle in pursuit. The driver of the stolen car fled.
One 26-year-old resident of Rosewood Drive said of the rioters: "These blokes have been planning this all day. They've been going down to the petrol stations to buy petrol and scouring the neighbourhood for bricks and shit to throw.
"They've been taunting the cops all day long to come and they've succeeded and the pigs are f---ing stupid, man. If only they knew that the only way to prevent this happening is if they didn't take the bait. My mates wanted me to help them hurt a couple of pigs, but there's no way. I don't want to go back to jail.
"For the past 12 years the cops have been coming here throwing blokes into the back of paddy wagons and taking them on joy rides where they beat the shit out of them. It's no wonder everyone who lives around here hates the f---ing cops."
The State Opposition has called on the Government to create a specific offence for fleeing police and endangering lives.
The Opposition Leader, John Brogden, said a Parliamentary Staysafe Committee had recommended more than 10 years ago that a specific offence for evading police should be included in legislation, after a fatal accident involving a police chase in 1994.
The law now provided penalties for dangerous driving and failing to comply with a police direction but there was still no specific offence for trying to evade police in a vehicle, he said.
The Police Minister, Carl Scully, said last night there were already offences under the Crimes Act for resisting arrest and obstructing a police investigation but he was examining whether further clarification of these powers was needed.
"The officers who handled the [pursuit] have my support and gratitude," Mr Scully said. He told 2GB radio police involved in the chase were interested in "more than just dealing with a stolen vehicle".
Jamie Rayward, the father of Dyllan, blamed police for unnecessarily chasing his son, but said he did not blame the driver of the car who survived and ran off. "I can't blame him because they knew what they were doing," he said. "They all were in the stolen car. If they wanted to, they could have said no 'I'm not going to'."
Early this morning, the battle had broken into two fronts on Eucalyptus Drive. Up to 200 rioters were attacking about 50 police at each end of the area.
A large brick wall in the street had been painted with the message: "Cops Will Die".
Police had ordered residents into their houses. Just before 1am a very large fire bomb was hurled from a house. It struck a policeman on the shoulder before exploding spectacularly.
Shortly after that police charged and a police dog attacked a youth who was taunting the police line. He was taken away with blooding gushing from his shoulder and leg.
Early yesterday morning people pelted rocks and bricks at Operational Support Group officers in a street near the crash site, leaving some with minor injuries. Police had been responding to a call that rocks were being thrown at cars.
The attacks were reminiscent of those after the death of the Aboriginal teenager Thomas "TJ" Hickey in Redfern last year. In that incident local residents hurled petrol bombs and bricks at police.
Yesterday, the acting greater metropolitan region commander, Denis Clifford, urged calm. He said police were "attacked by a core group of up to 15 males and females who threw rocks, bricks and other missiles at the officers".
A 21-year-old male and a 21-year-old female were charged with riot and affray and other matters.
BATTLE LINES: Youths burn a mattress in Macquarie Fields during a third night of violence over the death of two teenagers in a police pursuit. |
Well if the numbskulls hadn't stolen the car in the first place, this never would have happened. Guess that's a little too much for the rioter's pee-sized brains to figure out.
"wheelie bins".
Australian for "trash can with wheels". We Yanks get confused on some of these names.
Are all of the rioters "Aboriginal"? Is this a race thing? Sure sounds like it.
Nope, this time (unlike the riot last year) the rioters all appear to be WASP. I saw the TV news report last night and none of the perpetuators looked Muslim or Aborigine.
I've heard that live ammo tends to work real well at silencing these types of outbursts...
They stole a car and were killed when the car hit a tree! This would lead me to believe that they were responsible for their own demise, not the police.
I think a liberal dose of CS and pepper spray would have calmed things down rather quickly.
WASP's or White trash?
What's the grievance of this group? Are they just garden-variety punks, or is there some poltical cause connected to this?
Proof positive that racial tensions aren't the only reasons for rioting when there are police involved, or that riots only happen in America.
Time to open a can of whoopass on these punks.
Probably white trash is a better term. (In this part of the world we would use "Anglo-Celtics with lower social-economic backgrounds" yada to describe such people)
Unnecessary to chase car thieves? I can see where the kid got his ethics from...
I felt like some of the story was missing so I googled up a little more.
In the Australian
19 arrests as rioters stone police
01mar05
EIGHT men and one youth will face court today after a total of 19 people were charged in a fourth night of riots on the streets of Sydney's Macquarie Fields.
Police made 19 arrests after rioters hurled rocks, bottles, firecrackers and chemical bombs at officers in the southwest Sydney suburb.
One of New South Wales's most senior policemen today condemned the violence, sparked by the deaths of two teenagers during a police pursuit on Friday.
"I am disappointed at the behaviour of a section of the community who gathered in the area last night and threw objects at the police," Assistant Commissioner Dennis Clifford said.
Overnight, police seized a rifle and a police baton and charged 12 men over rioting, offensive conduct and hindering police.
One charge related to the assault of a female police officer.
Three females were also charged, a police spokeswoman said.
Four juveniles, including a 15-year-old Macquarie Fields girl, were charged with assaulting police.
Eight men and a male youth were refused bail. They are expected to appear in Campbelltown Local Court today.
Calm returned to the suburb after midnight (AEDT) when the 150 police in attendance removed roadblocks and withdrew from the Eucalyptus Drive area.
The violence follows the deaths of Dyllan Raywood, 17, and Matthew Robertson, 19, when the stolen car in which they were passengers hit a tree during a police chase on Friday night.
The driver of the car fled and has not turned himself in.
Newspaper reports today said the driver walked into Macquarie Fields police station to fulfil bail requirements for other charges the day after the crash, but was allowed to go free while enquiries continued.
privacy terms © The Australian
Wikipedia describes Macquarie fields as
"a suburb located in the south-western region of Sydney, Australia. Known to many as a suburb manifested with drug busts, gang warfare and below-average lifestyle circumstances. It is also known to be a highly diverse community, with Pacific Islanders (mostly Samoans and Tongans) and Middle-Easterners the predominant cultures, as well as Australians.
Macquarie Fields has two main gangs roaming its streets. Like the gangs in Los Angeles, USA, the suburb's two street gangs are divided into the 'Bloods' (members being mainly of Samoan origin) and 'Crips' (members from Tonga, predominately).
Organized gangs (mainly of Asian origin) have also been known to commit crimes in Macquarie Fields, although that has lessened to an extent over the years. This is due to restrcitions put towards criminals of organized gangs; meaning that members of gangs such as '5-T' (a notorious Asian-based oraganized gang in Sydney) have a slight possibility to be shot dead on sight by local residents. This is because of the fact that orangized gangs have been known to kill Macqaurie Fields locals for harsh reasons."
Sounds like a rough place.
Don't think they are very politically aware. Unlike the "counter-culture" professional-peacenik types that live in downtoen Melbourne, I think they are probably just poor unemployed types looking to stir up troubles in any opportunity available .
What are the police supposed to do - permit felony evasion? Sounds like shear hooliganism to me.
They weren't molotov cocktails. That was good stout native Austrailian wine.
It also removes paint.
Thanks for the viewpoint -- that's what it did sound like when I tried to wade through all the profanities in the newspaper account.
The SMH is the quintessential MSM over there, while The Australian (owned by Murdoch's News Corp) partially offers a place for alternative voice to left-group think. (it is still much better than the phony "centre-right" Globe and Mail of Canada though)
I'm not surprised they would want to hide out details. They do ahve an agenda.
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