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Aborigines Anger: Boy's Death Prompts Riots
Aired February 16, 2004 - 15:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The death of a 17-year-old Aborigine boy led to a long night of rioting in Sydney, Australia. As David Spicer reports, the boy's mother says police are to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID SPICER, ABC NEWS (voice-over): The streets of Redfern (ph) were on fire last night. A simmering anger at police conduct exploded into a riot that lasted five hours. So many people were involved in the violence, police spent much of the night ducking for cover.
CMDR. BOB WAITES, SYDNEY POLICE: One officer was knocked out by a brick that was thrown through the air, and a number of others have got broken limbs.
SPICER: The rioters tore apart the local railway station. But police decided not to advance on the angry crowd until they'd gathered 200 officers from across Sydney. It was not until they brought in a fire hose the crowd dispersed at a quarter to 5:00 this morning. Four people were arrested, but police say more charges should follow.
WAITES: There was some misinformation in the community around Ebberly Street (ph). A fairly large consumption of alcohol during the course of the day, and it's a day where they got more and more angry.
SPICER: Seventeen-year-old Thomas Hickey died on Saturday after falling from his bike and becoming impaled on a fence. Some members of the Aboriginal community allege a police chase caused the accident. His mother says last night's riot was a justifiable expression of anger.
GAIL HICKEY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Yesterday and the other day I felt like running to the police station and just smashing the cops and that sort of thing. But I said, no, do it the right way. Just let them investigate it and all that.
SPICER: But police in the New South Wales government say it was all a tragic mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The strong advice from the police is that the police were not pursuing Thomas Hickey. They passed him in their vehicle. They were pursuing someone else.
SPICER: This afternoon, Aboriginal leaders convened a meeting in Redfern (ph) to call for calm. Three separate inquiries will investigate the events surrounding the riots.
David Spicer, ABC News, Sydney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 16, 2004 - 15:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The death of a 17-year-old Aborigine boy led to a long night of rioting in Sydney, Australia. As David Spicer reports, the boy's mother says police are to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID SPICER, ABC NEWS (voice-over): The streets of Redfern (ph) were on fire last night. A simmering anger at police conduct exploded into a riot that lasted five hours. So many people were involved in the violence, police spent much of the night ducking for cover.
CMDR. BOB WAITES, SYDNEY POLICE: One officer was knocked out by a brick that was thrown through the air, and a number of others have got broken limbs.
SPICER: The rioters tore apart the local railway station. But police decided not to advance on the angry crowd until they'd gathered 200 officers from across Sydney. It was not until they brought in a fire hose the crowd dispersed at a quarter to 5:00 this morning. Four people were arrested, but police say more charges should follow.
WAITES: There was some misinformation in the community around Ebberly Street (ph). A fairly large consumption of alcohol during the course of the day, and it's a day where they got more and more angry.
SPICER: Seventeen-year-old Thomas Hickey died on Saturday after falling from his bike and becoming impaled on a fence. Some members of the Aboriginal community allege a police chase caused the accident. His mother says last night's riot was a justifiable expression of anger.
GAIL HICKEY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Yesterday and the other day I felt like running to the police station and just smashing the cops and that sort of thing. But I said, no, do it the right way. Just let them investigate it and all that.
SPICER: But police in the New South Wales government say it was all a tragic mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The strong advice from the police is that the police were not pursuing Thomas Hickey. They passed him in their vehicle. They were pursuing someone else.
SPICER: This afternoon, Aboriginal leaders convened a meeting in Redfern (ph) to call for calm. Three separate inquiries will investigate the events surrounding the riots.
David Spicer, ABC News, Sydney.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
