2005 Cronulla riots
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2005 Cronulla riots
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The Cronulla riots of 2005 were a series of racially motivated mob confrontations which originated in and around Cronulla, a beachfront suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Soon after the riot, ethnically motivated violent incidents occurred in several other Sydney suburbs.
On Sunday, 11 December 2005, approximately 5000 people gathered to protest against recently reported incidents of assaults and intimidatory behaviour by groups of non-locals, most of whom were identified in earlier media reports as Middle Eastern youths from the suburbs of Western Sydney. The crowd assembled following a series of earlier confrontations, specifically an assault on three off-duty lifesavers which took place the previous weekend.[1] The crowd initially assembled without incident, but violence broke out after a large segment of the mostly white [2] Australian crowd chased a man of Middle Eastern appearance into a hotel and 2 other youths of Middle Eastern appearance were assaulted on a train.
The following nights saw several retaliatory violent assaults in the communities near Cronulla and Maroubra, large gatherings of protesters around western Sydney, and an unprecedented police lock-down of Sydney beaches and surrounding areas, between Wollongong and Newcastle.
Earlier events
2GB Radio broadcaster Alan Jones was accused of inciting the riots [1] by fueling largely anti-Middle Eastern sentiments from callers on his talk show. He was found by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to have breached the commercial radio code by broadcasting material that was likely to encourage violence, in the lead up to the riot. (http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/alan-jones-breached-code/2007/04/10/1175971070038.html)
11 December — the riot
On Sunday 11 December 2005, an estimated crowd of 5000 gathered at Cronulla beach.[3] In the week leading up to the incident, this confrontation and the subsequent circulation of anonymous calls to gather at the beach — spread via SMS text messaging ("Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge. This Sunday every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support Leb and wog bashing day.")[4] and other means — were the subject of much publicity and media commentary which played a large role in raising the profile of the event as well as framing it as racially motivated.
The assembly occurred after members of the local community called for a public demonstration in response to the previous weekend's confrontation between a group of Middle Eastern men and some local Cronulla beach surf lifesavers.[5] Police had earlier stated that they believed this previous assault had been racially motivated.
A number of demonstrators wore clothing bearing racist slogans such as "We Grew Here, You Flew Here", "Wog Free Zone" and "Ethnic Cleansing Unit" and other nationalistic slogans such as "Aussie Pride" and "Save 'Nulla". Chants of "Lebs out", "Fuck off Lebs", "Lebs go home", "No Lebs", and other discriminatory expressions were continuously shouted out by the mob. [6]
Representatives from three far-right organisations were also identified handing out pamphlets, namely the Australia First Party, the Newcastle-based Blood and Honour and the Patriotic Youth League (PYL). The PYL describes itself as a "radical nationalist" group with links to the US-based racist skinhead group Volksfront and the New Zealand National Front. The PYL had previously been linked by The Sydney Morning Herald to racially motivated attacks at the University of Newcastle.[7] None of the groups have claimed a role in organising the event.
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione afterwards said police believed representatives of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups had been among the crowd. "That in fact is something that we're following up," he later told the Nine Network. The network later reported that "one woman was pictured among the angry crowd holding a poster…which advertised a group known as the Patriotic Youth League."[8]
According to ABC News, after several hours had passed without direct confrontation, the initially festive atmosphere rapidly turned to violence:
“ Earlier in the day the atmosphere had been party-like despite the large crowd, which some estimates say numbers 5,000 people. That changed when a man of Middle Eastern appearance was chased into a hotel bistro. Within a minute the hotel was surrounded by several thousand people screaming and chanting. About a half an hour later a fight broke out across the road and police led away a man with a shirt over his head as the crowd lobbed beer cans at him.[9] ”According to one local, who was interviewed by SMH columnist, Paul Sheehan,[3]
“ It all started when this guy outside Northies shouted, 'I'm going to blow youse all up.'[10] ”before he was surrounded by the crowd and attacked.
Through the remainder of the day, several more individuals of "Middle Eastern appearance" were allegedly assaulted. Police and ambulance workers leading away the victims from the riots were also assaulted by groups of people throwing beer bottles.[1] Several dozen people were treated for minor cuts and bruises, while six individuals were evacuated under police escort to be assessed by doctors. One was further evacuated to St. George Hospital, in a serious but stable condition.[10][9].
As they moved to protect several individuals targeted by the crowds, many of the police present employed riot equipment including capsicum spray in order to subdue several of the attackers. A call for reinforcements was placed to the police station in Miranda, a nearby suburb on the peninsula. Local police at Cronulla had earlier commented that they were sufficiently prepared to deal with any anticipated violence at Cronulla beach, but seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who had arrived.
Elouera Road was temporarily closed to traffic. A total of 25 people were later reported injured in the incidents, including two ambulance officers.[3] Later that evening, The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a New South Wales Police spokesman as saying that seven people had been arrested, and that charges had been filed against four individuals.[3] By the following morning of the 12th, the News Limited website reported twelve arrests total. Charges to be laid included assaulting police, throwing a missile, offensive behaviour, hindering police and resisting arrest.[citation needed]
Reaction and retaliation
11 December — evening
Following the confrontations at the beach earlier in the day, there were reports that a number of Arab youths travelling in groups were converging on various locations in the region, in a series of apparent "hit-and-run" retaliatory actions. As several convoys of Lebanese men approached the beachside suburbs at around 10:45 p.m., the New South Wales police operations commander on duty issued instructions that their cars were not to be approached, but that registration and location details be recorded.[11] NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites confirmed the reason for this instruction was "They weren't committing any offences at the time [they were in convoy] and it was about making sure they recorded [the details] so they have all the information." Several of the individuals concerned were held in custody that night in relation to some later events of that evening, with some ensuing charges being filed a little over a month afterwards. Superintendent Ken McKay, head of Strike Force Enoggera later set up to deal with the incidents, commented: "We are investigating a large number of crimes that occurred on this night and I'm quite confident, having around 200 car numbers … A lot has been made of issues that aren't issues." Promising that there would be further arrests as investigations were completed, he also noted that he was sick of the politicising of the investigations into the revenge attacks.
Through the remainder of the evening, cars and windows in Maroubra, Arncliffe and Rockdale were vandalised.[12] Several instances of property damage at the Rockdale railway station were reported. A 23-year-old man was stabbed outside a golf club in Woolooware after being approached by a group of men of Lebanese heritage.[13]
By 1:00 a.m., reports of violence had also spread to Brighton-Le-Sands, where police wearing riot gear sectioned off Bay Street in a confrontation with a crowd of people of Lebanese Australians.[14] The violence then spread to Ashfield in Sydney's Inner West, as well as suburbs in Greater Western Sydney, with outbreaks in Bankstown and Punchbowl.[15]