Riot in Western Australian city of Kalgoorlie after death of Indiginous boy

[Bebe 17,289]

The man accused of the manslaughter of a teenage boy from Boulder has made a brief appearance in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old, whose name has been suppressed by court order, was prevented from appearing in person on Tuesday at Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court after a riot erupted outside the court.

An angry mob, enraged by rumours spread on social media about the circumstances under which 14-year-old Elijah Doughty died, injured 12 police officers by throwing rocks and bottles and made it unsafe for the accused to appear.

The accused was moved to an undisclosed location and appeared from there via video link in court on Wednesday, with the case heard before the day's hearings commenced as an extra precaution.

Rows of police officers lined the steps of the courthouse as a precaution against further unrest, with the case reportedly adjourned until September 28.

On Tuesday, the 200-strong crowd disrupted proceedings and were pepper sprayed and arrested after police riot squads were called in and subsequently attacked outside the courthouse, which was forced into lockdown as tensions boiled over.

Shopkeepers along the town's main road, Hannan Street, were forced to shut their businesses.

Elijah died on Monday morning after the scooter he was riding, reported stolen on Sunday and linked to the accused, was involved in a crash with the man's Nissan Navara.

Tensions began to build early in the morning, with Indigenous supporters carrying signs calling for 'justice' and that 'the lives of our kids matter'.

Elijah, a well loved community member and local footy player, celebrated his 14th birthday only on Sunday, according to The Kalgoorlie Miner.

His aunt told the newspaper his death was the third in the family in the past few weeks.

Read more from the source: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/kalgoorlie-riots-accused-to-face-perth-court-over-death-of-elijah-doughty-20160831-gr584w.html

More reading:

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/kalgoorlie-riot-indigenous-woman-stands-between-violent-protesters-and-police-20160830-gr4zk6.html

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ugly-issues-behind-kalgoorlie-riots-but-towns-beauty-never-stays-buried-long-20160830-gr54si.html

The young boy, Elijah Doughty, tragically killed:

 

Pictures of the riots

 

 

 

 

[FATCAT 60,888]

It's interesting seeing issues like this from the outside of a country. I wonder if this is how foreigners feel about American stories.

[Bebe 17,289]

Vigil for the boy:

 

[FATCAT 60,888]

Wow, so it was a hit and run. Sickening.

[Bebe 17,289]

This is a really great article sort of explaining more about why the riots happened:

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/indigenous-journalist-blames-kalgoorlie-riots-on-facebook-crime-pages-20160830-gr4x1h.html

An indigenous journalist has accused two Facebook crime pages of creating a climate of violence and racial intolerance that triggered riots after a local man was charged over the alleged manslaughter of a 14-year-old indigenous boy.

Speaking to 6PR on Tuesday afternoon, broadcaster Debbie Carmody from the Tjuma Pulka Media Aboriginal Corporation said the two Facebook pages that focus on Kalgoorlie and encourage members to report local crimes are inciting violence.

"It has been building up for quite a number of years... Now the sites vilify, they incite violence, and murder towards Wongatha youth, and literally tell people to go out and kill Wongatha youth and ask how many bodies can you dump down a mine shaft?" Ms Carmody said.

"Now despite numerous complaints the sites have never been able to get closed down and the continued  racism from those sites and the fresh threats of bashing and killing our people - it has pushed people to the brink.

"They are very angry that the police were aware of the two local social media sites and why nothing had been done."

"This is why people hit the streets today. They were so frustrated and angry at their voice not being heard. 

"They were saying to police what are you doing, protecting the racists? A number of complaints have been made to Facebook and they don't shut it down. So what do you expect people to do? Of course they're going to get out onto the streets and protest."

"It is now our sorry time where we mourn that person's death and also we want to work harder at getting those sites closed down and we want to continue working with the community in a peaceful way."

"White Australia has to realise when you've been oppressed for so long people can only take so much before they start rioting and protesting."

[Nicole 1,809]

I'm not completely sure, but I'd imagine that foreigners don't really hear much about the treatment of our Indigenous people in Australia. It's disappointing that the only focus on the news is the riots, instead of the history of oppression that Indigenous people are absolutely fed up with.

Firstly, I encourage everyone to watch this program about a detention centre in the NT, this program sparked a Royal Commission within 48 hours of it airing just a few weeks ago http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2016/07/25/4504895.htm

The Indigenous population was almost wiped out in a genocide that occurred when Australia was invaded, their lives have been subject to abuse and control. They lived on missions, there were laws that allowed crimes to be committed against them, they were subject to harsher punishments than white people. Indigenous children were stolen from their families, known as the "stolen generation". Remember, Australia is a very young country. Survivors of the stolen are todays generation of Indigenous people. Ties with their culture have been severed and for a culture where land and kin are primary, it's affected them in the most negative of ways. There are no real numbers for the amount of children that were taken, it's believed that it's between 1/3 and 1/10 children and we'll never know because some were never told they were Aboriginal. 

We've had a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, yet 25 years later - deaths in custody are still occurring. In fact, statistics show it is getting worse. People in power simply don't care anymore, and the Indigenous community and their allies are fed up. Just some cases that I have personally read + studied:

- Mulrunji: In 2006, he was (unlawfully) arrested for swearing. he died due to the force applied by the police officer, but there was no sufficient "evidence" that the force was placed on him on purpose. 

- Mr. Ward: he was arrested for traffic offences. He was denied bail (yes, for traffic offences), and transported to another prison. This drive was 360km on a 40+ degree day. He burned to death in the back of the van

- Terrence Briscoe: he was brought into "protective custody" (In some states in Australia police can detain you if you're intoxicated to sober up). CCTV shows him being left unattended in a cell and was found dead 5 hours later as a result of the combined effects of alcohol intoxication, positional asphyxia and aspiration – obstructing the airways, leading to death.

- Ms Dhu: she was placed in jail in order to pay off some fines she couldn't afford to pay. She was in her cell and complained of pain and police officers commented on how she was a junkie and ignored her pleas, even dropped her where she hit her head. Eventually, she was taken to hospital (and sent home twice - the police officer accused her of faking her illness to get quicker medical treatment). The medical centre failed to give her the attention any medical patient would expect, she eventually died due to an infection that stemmed from her broken ribs 

- Quayle: he was suffering from alcohol withdrawals and hallucinations, the nurse called the police after accepting him as a patient. Rather than treat him, he was put in a police cell without light and was unattended throughout the night. He was found to have hung himself. The Royal Commission found that he was unlawfully detained and the police officers had failed in their duty of care. 

- Nean: stole can of sardines $1. He was fined + convicted and put in a cell to "cut out" the fine, and died in custody. 

To give some more context, some Indigenous communities still live in remote areas where, by culture, they are connected to the land. The Australian government has literally cut off their water supply and is shutting down these communities, displacing them. The Australian Government lied about an alleged pedophilia ring in a remote Indigenous Community, and used our own military to raid the town (which is illegal) and to no surprise, found no evidence of a pedophilia ring or sexual assault of children period. 

This is way more than just a young Aboriginal boy getting shot by police. This is generations of oppression, disadvantage and dispossession. 

His name was Elijah Doughty, #SOSBlakAustralia 

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

So this is how people feel when they read US stories with a similar nature. 

[Bebe 17,289]

51 minutes ago, Nicole said:

 

Really great post 

It's this sort of stuff that many fellow Australians seem to ignore though unfortunately. I hear people talk about what a mess race relations in the US are, but frankly it's the same if not worse here, we just don't often hear about the huge issues our indigenous communities face. It's so often not treated as important news and Indigenous issues are so often not considered important policy issues.

[ChasingGhosts 726]

I've been to WA once and that was enough to make me never go there again. 

It's really upsetting to see how Aboriginal people are still treated in this country (see the detention centre incident in NT), especially since we're one of the most multi cultural countries in the world. Accepting of everybody except those who came before us. 

[Nicole 1,809]

57 minutes ago, Bebe said:

Really great post 

It's this sort of stuff that many fellow Australians seem to ignore though unfortunately. I hear people talk about what a mess race relations in the US are, but frankly it's the same if not worse here, we just don't often hear about the huge issues our indigenous communities face. It's so often not treated as important news and Indigenous issues are so often not considered important policy issues.

I feel like many Australians focus on international issues as it places issues we are responsible for somewhere else where we don't have to think about it. 

this is only scratching the surface as well, Australia is probably one of the most unprogressive western country and its time the international community started calling us out on it. 

As for policy issues, they have been "responded to" in some ways, but not the ways in which indigenous people want them to be handled and what's been done policy wise has only caused more problems