Tensions erupted in a remote Australian town as hundreds of protesters clashed with emergency services workers after the arrest of a man suspected of killing a 5-year-old Indigenous girl, police said Friday.
Authorities moved quickly to contain the fallout. Anthony Albanese, the Northern Territory police commissioner and a spokesperson for the victim’s family all urged restraint after about 400 Indigenous residents gathered outside a hospital Thursday night, where the suspect was being treated after being beaten by locals.
Footage aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation showed a volatile scene, with members of the crowd demanding “payback,” a term rooted in traditional Aboriginal practices involving retributive, often physical, punishment.
They threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring several police officers and medical workers, while also damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks. Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Jefferson Lewis, 47, who police believe abducted and killed the girl, presented himself at 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 Saturday.
Her body was found Thursday by one of hundreds of people searching 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 prior convictions for assault and was recently released from prison.
“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 for his safety.
He is likely to be charged in the coming days.
Prime Minister 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 daylong ban will apply to takeaway alcohol, and more police will arrive 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 rule.
Indigenous Australians make up about 3.8% of the country’s population of roughly 27 million but rank near the bottom in many economic and social indicators 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.
