Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cAs a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson and we received numerous phone calls saying he was in the process of being assaulted,\u201d he said. \u201cWe responded very quickly and we stopped that from continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Lewis had been subjected to a \u201csustained attack\u201d and was unconscious when police and ambulance officers arrived. They had then been \u201cassaulted\u201d by the crowd at the town camp, he said, with one police officer requiring stitches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe conveyed Mr Lewis to the Alice Springs hospital and shortly afterward a large crowd gathered and tried to gain access to that hospital and access to Mr Lewis,\u201d he said. \u201cPolice responded and we called out all the resources that we had available to quell that violence and disturbance \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThose people involved, you will face the law just as Jefferson Lewis is facing the law and your behaviour will not be accepted by us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mourners leave flowers at the entrance to the Old Timers camp. Photograph: Rhett Hammerton\/Reuters<\/p>\n
A crowd of about 400 people assembled outside the hospital as word spread of the arrest. A police car was set alight, four other police cars and four of the region\u2019s five ambulances were damaged, bins and bushes were set on fire and nearby businesses were trashed. One woman was arrested for allegedly trying to set a police car alight. Dole said officers from the territory response group had used \u201cless-than-lethal munitions and chemical munitions\u201d against the crowd.<\/p>\n
Robin Granites, a senior Warlpiri elder and spokesperson for the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby, acknowledged people\u2019s anger as the community grapples with grief but urged the town to come together and respect the family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering,\u201d Granites said. \u201cEveryone is feeling very upset and emotions are very high.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur children are precious, of course we are feeling angry and hurt at what has happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis man has been caught, thanks to community action, and we must now let justice take its course while we take the time to mourn Kumantjayi Little Baby and support our family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dole said Lewis had been transferred to Darwin in the early hours of Friday morning due to safety concerns \u201cfor himself and emergency service workers\u201d. He had been discharged from hospital into police custody.<\/p>\n
The police commissioner said the violence outside the hospital was unacceptable and \u201can aberration\u201d from a community which had pulled together to search for, and now grieve, Kumanjayi Little Baby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just call for calm across the community today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The NT chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, said she understood the grief and anger but unrest was neither acceptable nor reflective of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis week we\u2019ve seen this town come together like never before, hundreds of people walking shoulder to shoulder through the long buffel grass, through the bush, to make sure we left no stone unturned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Finocchiaro said bottle shops would be closed on Friday and takeaway alcohol sales on Saturday would be limited to between 11am and 2pm. Sunday already has restricted alcohol sales, and Monday and Tuesday are dry days.<\/p>\n
Smashed windows at a service station near the hospital on Friday morning. Photograph: Em Jensen\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Dole told reporters that anyone seeking justice through traditional Warlpiri lore would have to respect the \u201cone law\u201d operating in the NT.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one law, and that one law applies to everybody, Dole said. \u201cIncluding the people that were involved in the violence last night.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow Mr Lewis is in police custody. There will be a prosecution and the court case will proceeds. I am telling the community that that\u2019s what\u2019s going to occur and that needs to be accepted by the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central Land Council\u2019s chair Warren Williams, who is related to the family and a grandfather to Kumanjayi Little Baby, also condemned the targeting of frontline workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so grateful to all the volunteers, emergency services and police staff who helped find my granddaughter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo those who think this is the time to take out their grief on the people who serve our community, I say stop right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The independent Victorian senator and Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Djab Wurrung woman Lidia Thorpe said Little Baby\u2019s death had plunged the community into deep distress and trauma.<\/p>\n
She also urged media outlets and community members to be mindful sharing images and videos on social media, saying it could be used to fuel racist or inflammatory commentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur families and communities must not be demonised or blamed for the violent actions of one individual,\u201d Thorpe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should refrain from sharing footage of violence online, which is only inflaming tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime minister, Anthony Albanese said the violent death of such a young girl \u201cbroke his heart\u201d and caused a deep hurt in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see the community come together, but we certainly understand people\u2019s anger and frustration and that that was expressed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Northern Territory police say one person is facing charges and more are expected to be over unrest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-642247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}