Hundreds of protesters clashed with Australian emergency services workers in a remote town following the arrest of a man suspected of murdering a 5-year-old Indigenous girl, police said on Friday.
Australia’s Prime Minister, the Northern Territory’s police commissioner and a spokesperson for the victim’s family all appealed for calm after an angry crowd of roughly 400 Indigenous people gathered on Thursday night at the hospital where the suspect was taken after being beaten unconscious by locals.
Footage of the protests from public broadcaster ABC showed members of the crowd calling for payback, which refers to traditional, mostly physical, punishment in Aboriginal societies.
They threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring a number of police officers and medical workers, while also damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks.
Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Jefferson Lewis, a 47-year-old man who police say they believe abducted and killed the girl, presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said at a news conference.
“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.
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“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.
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