In a remote Australian town, tensions flared as hundreds of protesters clashed with emergency services after the arrest of a suspect in the murder of a 5-year-old Indigenous girl, according to police reports on Friday.
In the aftermath of the unrest, Australia’s Prime Minister, along with the Northern Territory’s police commissioner and a family spokesperson for the young victim, urged the community to remain calm. The turmoil erupted on Thursday night when approximately 400 Indigenous individuals converged on the hospital where the suspect had been taken after reportedly being beaten unconscious by local residents.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) captured footage of the protests, showing demonstrators demanding “payback,” a term referring to traditional forms of physical retribution in Aboriginal cultures.
Protesters hurled objects and set fires, leading to injuries among several police officers and medical personnel. Additionally, police vehicles, ambulances, and fire trucks sustained damage during the clashes.
In response, authorities deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd.
GIRL WAS MISSING SINCE LATE ON SATURDAY
Police Commissioner Martin Dole disclosed at a press briefing that 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, the suspect believed to have abducted and killed the girl, had turned himself in at one of the town camps in Alice Springs.
“As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson,” he said.
The girl, now referred to by her family as Kumanjayi Little Baby in line with Indigenous customs, went missing from her home on the outskirts of Alice Springs late on Saturday.
Her body was located on Thursday by one of hundreds of people searching the dense bushland around the town, a popular tourist destination in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Lewis, who was identified as a suspect by police earlier in the week, has past convictions for physical assaults and was recently released from prison.
SUSPECT MOVED TO DARWIN FOR OWN SAFETY
“I just call for calm across the community today … I’d like to think that what we saw last night is an aberration,” Dole said, adding that Lewis was moved to the territory capital Darwin in the early hours of Friday morning for his own safety.
He is likely to be charged in the coming days.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he understood “people’s anger and frustration” but urged the community to come together.
Robin Granites, a senior Aboriginal elder and spokesperson for the family, also appealed for restraint.
“This man has been caught, thanks to community action, and we must now let justice take its course while we take the time to mourn Kumanjayi Little Baby and support our family,” he said in a statement.
“Now is not the time to be heroes on social media or make trouble.”
A day-long ban will apply to takeaway alcohol and more police will be arriving from Darwin to prevent further escalation, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.
Alcohol restrictions are already enforced in the town on certain days during the week in an effort to reduce crime.
Australia has struggled for decades to reconcile with its Indigenous population, who have inhabited the land for some 50,000 years but were marginalized by British colonial rulers.
Indigenous Australians make up around 3.8% of Australia’s population of about 27 million, but track near the bottom in almost every economic and social indicator and have disproportionately high rates of suicide and incarceration.
Thousands, including the victim and her family, live in communities known as camps on the outskirts of Alice Springs, where housing and services are often inadequate.
