By Alasdair Pal and Christine Chen
SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters clashed with Australian emergency services workers in a remote town following the arrest of a man suspected of murdering a five-year-old Indigenous girl, police said on Friday.
Jefferson Lewis, a 47-year-old man who police say they believe abducted and killed the girl, was found by locals and beaten unconscious on Thursday night before police apprehended him, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said at a news conference.
“He presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs last night. 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
A crowd of around 400 people later gathered outside Alice Springs Hospital where Lewis was being treated, attempting to force their way inside, Dole said in a separate interview with public broadcaster ABC.
Footage from the ABC showed Indigenous people calling for payback, which refers to traditional, mostly physical, punishment in Aboriginal societies.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the angry crowd, who threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring a number of police officers and medical workers, and damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks.
“There is absolutely no excuse for violence against emergency services that are just doing their job,” Dole said.
“I just call for calm across the community today … I’d like to think that what we saw last night is an aberration.”
Lewis was moved to the territory capital Darwin in the early hours of Friday morning for his own safety, Dole said. 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.
Following the violent clash, a day-long ban will apply to takeaway alcohol and more police will be arriving from Darwin, Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.
Alcohol restrictions are 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 marginalised 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.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal and Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Chris Reese and Edwina Gibbs)
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