Boongs riot, destroy police station; loot store and tavern

[Rasp]

Boongs riot; destroy police station; loot store and tavern

Extra police sent to Aurukun after riot

The Queensland Government says more police and resources will be sent to the Cape York Aboriginal community of Aurukun this morning after an overnight riot in the town, involving about 300 people.

In what is being described as a sustained attack, a group damaged the police station, tavern and a shop after a 22-year-old local man was arrested and fell ill while in police custody.

He was flown to the Cairns Base Hospital for treatment and is now in the Cairns watch-house.

The town has been declared an emergency zone, and police have set up a major incident room in Cairns. Extra police officers have also been flown in from Cairns.

Acting Premier Anna Bligh says she will meet senior police later this morning to discuss the next step.

"It is still a matter of speculation about the cause of the riot but it does seem to have been a link to the detention to one of the residents of Aurukun at the police station," she said.

"Obviously I'll be meeting later this morning with the Acting Police Commissioner and I certainly expect that this will be fully investigated in a very open and transparent way."

'Out of the blue'

The local council's chief executive Gary Kleidon says the riot has taken the town by surprise.

"It was a matter of just staying indoors and staying away from it," he said.

"But [we were] fairly powerless to do anything and it was quite a long and sustained attack on the police premises.

"It just came out of the blue and I'm personally quite troubled by it."

Mr Kleidon says that as well as the police station, the community's only store and tavern were ransacked.

"We're not quite sure of the full extent of that damage, but there's been quite a substantial amount of damage and it was quite an unsettling incident," he said.

Mr Kleidon says the trouble started when the local man fell ill in custody and was flown out of Aurukun by the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

"After the plane left as people seemed to be dissipating from the airport, which takes people past the police station, is where the incident seems to have started and gone on from there," he said.

Mr Kleidon says he will meet with elders, the local justice group, the council and police officers later this morning and he hopes relationships with the police can be repaired.

"Aurukun attracted a lot of publicity in the early '90s but it's been quiet for a long, long time," he said.

"It's just totally out of character for the community."

[BB-Leo]

Riot prompts call for summit on police-Indigenous relations

A Brisbane-based Aboriginal activist says a summit is needed to try to restore trust between police and Indigenous Queenslanders.
Sam Watson says riots at Aurukun on Cape York overnight reflect a breakdown in relations.
The police station, tavern and a shop were damaged when about 300 people went on a rampage after a local man was arrested and fell ill while in police custody.

Relations breaking down again

Abos vs., white Police

The trust between police and indigenous Queenslander must be restored according to Aboriginal activist.

Abos got drunk and crazy damaged the police station, tavern and shops as 300 people went on a rampage after Nigger Aboriginal man was arrested and fell ill while in white police custody. He was taken to Cairns Base Hospital for treatment and is back in custody with white police in Cairns watch-house.

Now the whole town has been declared an emergency zone, and extra police also had been flown from Cairns.
Now the summit will be called to restore the relationship with 'White Police,' and Queensland Government will send senior bureaucrats to Aurukun to meet with this Niggers

Instead to send white solders to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, they should send those black lazy trouble makers instead. They like to fight, so give them a chance to have a real fight, but make sure that alcohol is supplied instead of water,
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070110/21/p/120o8.html
http://www.aurukun.qld.gov.au/
http://www.uq.net.au/~zzrzabel/aurukun.htm

Further update on the riot at Aurukun - Queensland available following this link;

http://au.news.yahoo.com/070109/2/120jh.html

Strange those Niggers, they are even scaring their own tribes.

Send them to Iraq, and let Iraq keep them there, blood is boiling god enough for Abos.

[William of the White Hand]

"It's just totally out of character for the community."

??? Peace and quiet - now that is something that would be totally out of character for the community.

[BB-Leo]

TV Channel 10 - News 10:PM (EAST) - Wednesday, January 10, 2007
www.ten.com.au
Confirmed the story, with some video footage of the Town, and it looks a disaster.It was also reported that the attackers had about 150 cartons of beer, and police is considering very strong investigation into this mans death, and riot, they also believe that he was ill before he was arrested.

[Rasp]

Originally Posted by Blogging and Blotting-Leo

Instead to send white solders to combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, they should send those black lazy trouble makers instead. They like to fight, so give them a chance to have a real fight, but make sure that alcohol is supplied instead of water,

Excellent suggestion, Leo!

[BB-Leo]

UPDATE :http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...1-1702,00.html

Aboriginal rioters to be charged tomorrow
January 11, 2007 05:28pm

CHARGES are expected to be laid tomorrow against the ringleaders of a riot that rocked the north Queensland Aboriginal community of Aurukun on Tuesday night.

A police spokeswoman said 15 people had been questioned by police in the Cape York community today following the riot in which an angry mob of more than 200 ransacked the town's police station, patrol vehicles, the local shop and a tavern.

The riot was triggered by allegations by local Aboriginal Warren Roderick Bell that he had been beaten by police after his arrest.

Mr Bell, 22, faced Cairns Magistrates Court today on assault charges.

He was granted bail by Magistrate Suzette Coates on the provision he abstain from drugs and alcohol and stay away from Aurukun.

However, the spokeswoman said Mr Bell remained in police custody in Cairns after one of his bail conditions could not be met.

More than 40 police remain in Aurukun as tensions continue to simmer in the aftermath of the riot.

The spokeswoman said police hoped to lay riot charges by tomorrow morning.

"It is going to take some time given there are number of people helping us with our inquiries,'' she said.

"We do, however, expect charges to be laid by early tomorrow, if not tonight.''

A video of the riot was filmed by a police officer who had sought refuge inside the police station alongside five fellow officers, one of the officer's family members, two Aboriginal elders and a community police officer.

The video is believed to be at the centre of the investigation.



Now that justice will be done, 'if any,,' perhaps the residents should get ready for the next round.

[BB-Leo]

UPDATE

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...897-2,00.html#

Nine 'ringleaders' charged over Cape York riot
January 12, 2007 08:58am

THE alleged ringleaders of a riot in the Cape York community of Aurukun in north Queensland have been charged with a range of offences.

Nineteen charges have been laid against eight men and one women ranging in age from 19 to 43.

The charges include rioting, serious assault of a police officer and breaking and entering.

The group will appear in Cairns Magistrates Court today.

Notices also have been issued to four men and two women aged between 16 and 34 to appear at Aurukun Magistrates Court on February 20 where they will face a total of 10 charges between them relating to breaking and entering and receiving stolen goods.

They are alleged to be part of a group of 300 that rampaged through the community after the arrest of local man Warren Bell.

Mr Bell later said he had been assaulted in police custody.

The town's police station, tavern and local shop were attacked, forcing officers, their families and Aboriginal elders to seek refuge in the police station.

Mr Bell, 22, appeared Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday on assault charges and was granted bail but remains in police custody after one of his bail conditions could not be met.

Police said more charges could be laid.

A video of the riot made by one of the officers is believed to be central to the investigation.

A policeman who fired a shot into the floor from his unlicensed rifle during the riot to scare off rioters as they hacked into the police station with an axe could also face charges.

Police initially said the officer had a licence for the weapon but it was revealed yesterday the officer had been given the weapon by a relative while on holiday interstate and had locked it in the gun safe at the police station while he applied for a licence.

The incident will be examined as part of the investigation into Mr Bell's arrest and the riot by the Police Ethical Standards Command and Crime and Misconduct Commission.



So far so good,will Volcano erupt again after arrests of Abos?

[BB-Leo]

UPDATE
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...2-1702,00.html
I was beaten, Aurukun man insists
January 12, 2007 08:16pm

AN Aboriginal man whose claims of police brutality sparked a riot in a remote north Queensland community has insisted he was beaten by officers.

Warren Bell, 22, said he was attacked by two police officers on the floor of the Aurukun police station watchhouse following his arrest for allegedly assaulting the manager of the local tavern on the weekend.

The allegations triggered a riot in the community with an angry mob of more than 200 people using weapons, including rocks, metal bars and an axe, to smash the front of the police station on Tuesday night.



Did they belt you up also with a Beer Bottle?

Following his appearance in the Cairns Magistrates Court on two charges of assault occasioning bodily harm today, Mr Bell maintained he had been the victim of a brutal bashing by police officers.

Outside the court, Mr Bell said: "The other copper kept hitting me.

"They were saying 'don't tell anyone. If you tell anyone we'll bash you again'."

Mr Bell's allegations are being investigated by the Ethical Standards unit and the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

The use by a police officer of an unlicensed private rifle to fire a bullet into the floor to try to disperse the mob is also being investigated.

The six police officers who came under attack during the riot are expected to return to the embattled community in the next few days after taking a leave of absence.

The officers had taken respite in Cairns in the riot's aftermath.

Nine of the riot's ringleaders appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court to face a total of 19 charges between them of rioting, serious assault of a police officer and breaking and entering.

Prosecutors named the nine as Delwyn Blowhard, Frederick Shortjoe, John Kowearpta, Jim Koongotema, Elvis Presley Bowenda, Len George Comprabar, Farlon Roderick Wolmby, Reginald Colin Wolmby and Sonya Shortjoe.

Most of the accused rioters will reappear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on January 18, while others will reappear on January 15.

Queensland Communities Minister Warren Pitt, Acting Police Minister Andrew Fraser and Jason O'Brien, the state member for Cook, will fly to Aurukun on Monday to inspect the community

[BB-Leo]

UPDATE
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...006786,00.html

Police cleared of assaulting inmate

February 07, 2007

POLICE in the remote north Queensland Aboriginal community of Aurukun have been cleared of claims they assaulted an Aboriginal man in custody.
Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) today found there was no evidence police assaulted Aurukun man Warren Bell following his arrest in early January this year.
The CMC said in a statement the only direct evidence of the alleged assault was from Mr. Bell himself.

"However, there are significant inconsistencies in the accounts given by Bell of his treatment while in police custody, which suggest that it would be unsafe to rely on his evidence without information from other sources to support it," the CMC found.

"Bell gives varying accounts of what happened after he was arrested.

"He is unclear about the time he was assaulted, how many officers assaulted him, who assaulted him, how many times he was hit, whether he was kicked, and the nature of his injuries."

Mr. Bell had told at least six people that he had been hit on the head by a bicycle rim thrown by his brother the previous Saturday.

But after speaking to a member of the Aurukun Community Justice Group on the day of his arrest, he claimed he was assaulted by police in the watch house cell.

Both doctors who treated him separately concluded that the injury to Mr. Bell's forehead was three to four days old and consistent with being hit the previous Saturday by his brother.

"The CMC concludes that there is no ground for referring the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions for possible criminal charges," the report said.

But the CMC has referred its report to the Queensland Police Service to consider disciplinary action in relation to the failure of police to videotape Mr. Bell in his cell on the morning of the arrest.

It is proper police procedure to videotape a person who is placed in a cell.

The officer involved told the investigation it was an "unfortunate oversight", the report said.