Manedwolf
member
Why, what happened?! I thought when they banned guns, everyone was supposed to hold hands and sing, right? Funny, you don't see this sort of thing going on in the US, despite ethnic tensions at times...
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Australia Herald-Sun
Nation's day of shame
Kara Lawrence and Luke McIlveen
12dec05
ANGRY crowds singled out and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance at one of Australia's iconic beaches as racial tensions boiled over into mob violence.
Police were powerless to quell the violence, resorting to batons and capsicum spray to rescue people fleeing packs of attackers.
An ambulance called to the scene to treat five bashing victims was pelted with beer bottles and rocks, smashing its windows.
Several men of Middle Eastern appearance were bashed and left bleeding. One was trapped against the back of a ute and punched repeatedly by several thugs before a police officer stepped in.
Two Middle Eastern girls were also pushed to the ground -- this time by a group of teenage girls -- and pelted with beer bottles as police tried to rescue them.
At least 5000 people converged on Sydney's Cronulla beach yesterday, after simmering anger between beach regulars flared last week.
As the crowd surged along the beach, one man on the back of a ute began to shout "No more Lebs" -- a chant picked up by the group around him.
Others in the crowd, carrying Australian flags and dressed in Australian shirts, yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie . . . Oi, Oi, Oi".
Authorities had expected trouble after two violent incidents last week -- an attack on two lifeguards and a brawl in which youths turned on media.
A series of text messages then began circulating, encouraging two rival groups to attack each other.
One urged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs"; another urged locals to rally at a point on the beach yesterday to retaliate against "Middle Eastern" gangs.
Roads were closed as the mobs seized control; mounted police struggled to hold their lines, and a police chopper hovered over the beach.
Many bars and shops along the beach shut down. Others stationed bouncers at the door, blocking anyone from going inside.
Police were forced to rush to Cronulla train station when a mob ran there from the beach after receiving a mobile phone text message saying a group of Lebanese people were trying to leave.
The text message was wrong, but it ignited a wild brawl at the station between the crowd and police officers.
Last night, 12 people -- aged between 16 and 33 -- had been arrested and charged.
Locals had called yesterday a day of pride, but it will go down as a day of national disgrace.
"I'm an Australian -- I was born here," a Middle Eastern youth told locals who had taunted him with chants of "Kill Lebs".
Minutes later, he was punched to the ground and kicked, before being led to safety by police, covered in blood.
The day began as a show of solidarity as thousands of locals draped themselves in the Australian flag and called for peace in their suburb.
Up to 150 police, including the dog squad and the police helicopter, were positioned beachside to cope with the crowd.
But as the beer flowed during the afternoon, the huge crowd became violent, roaming the streets in search of targets for their anger.
Few Middle Eastern youths came to Cronulla, but those who did quickly became victims of mob violence.
The crowd swarmed between the beach and the main street.
Police reacted only to rescue the victims of the bashings, rushing them to safety through the front entrance of a local club.
"What the Lebs did last week was low and it's time we showed a bit of pride towards where we live," said Luke O'Brien, a local volunteer lifesaver.
Another local, Peter, said that the huge show of force yesterday had been "coming for five or six years".
By late afternoon, the baying crowd, many of them drunk, began to turn on riot squad police and emergency services.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin -- himself a Cronulla local -- branded the day's events as "nothing short of disgusting, and disgraceful".
"What has been occurring on some fronts is that people of Middle Eastern backgrounds that have been seen in the Cronulla area -- a swarm of the crowd has approached these people with vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way," he said.
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Australia Herald-Sun
Nation's day of shame
Kara Lawrence and Luke McIlveen
12dec05
ANGRY crowds singled out and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance at one of Australia's iconic beaches as racial tensions boiled over into mob violence.
Police were powerless to quell the violence, resorting to batons and capsicum spray to rescue people fleeing packs of attackers.
An ambulance called to the scene to treat five bashing victims was pelted with beer bottles and rocks, smashing its windows.
Several men of Middle Eastern appearance were bashed and left bleeding. One was trapped against the back of a ute and punched repeatedly by several thugs before a police officer stepped in.
Two Middle Eastern girls were also pushed to the ground -- this time by a group of teenage girls -- and pelted with beer bottles as police tried to rescue them.
At least 5000 people converged on Sydney's Cronulla beach yesterday, after simmering anger between beach regulars flared last week.
As the crowd surged along the beach, one man on the back of a ute began to shout "No more Lebs" -- a chant picked up by the group around him.
Others in the crowd, carrying Australian flags and dressed in Australian shirts, yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie . . . Oi, Oi, Oi".
Authorities had expected trouble after two violent incidents last week -- an attack on two lifeguards and a brawl in which youths turned on media.
A series of text messages then began circulating, encouraging two rival groups to attack each other.
One urged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs"; another urged locals to rally at a point on the beach yesterday to retaliate against "Middle Eastern" gangs.
Roads were closed as the mobs seized control; mounted police struggled to hold their lines, and a police chopper hovered over the beach.
Many bars and shops along the beach shut down. Others stationed bouncers at the door, blocking anyone from going inside.
Police were forced to rush to Cronulla train station when a mob ran there from the beach after receiving a mobile phone text message saying a group of Lebanese people were trying to leave.
The text message was wrong, but it ignited a wild brawl at the station between the crowd and police officers.
Last night, 12 people -- aged between 16 and 33 -- had been arrested and charged.
Locals had called yesterday a day of pride, but it will go down as a day of national disgrace.
"I'm an Australian -- I was born here," a Middle Eastern youth told locals who had taunted him with chants of "Kill Lebs".
Minutes later, he was punched to the ground and kicked, before being led to safety by police, covered in blood.
The day began as a show of solidarity as thousands of locals draped themselves in the Australian flag and called for peace in their suburb.
Up to 150 police, including the dog squad and the police helicopter, were positioned beachside to cope with the crowd.
But as the beer flowed during the afternoon, the huge crowd became violent, roaming the streets in search of targets for their anger.
Few Middle Eastern youths came to Cronulla, but those who did quickly became victims of mob violence.
The crowd swarmed between the beach and the main street.
Police reacted only to rescue the victims of the bashings, rushing them to safety through the front entrance of a local club.
"What the Lebs did last week was low and it's time we showed a bit of pride towards where we live," said Luke O'Brien, a local volunteer lifesaver.
Another local, Peter, said that the huge show of force yesterday had been "coming for five or six years".
By late afternoon, the baying crowd, many of them drunk, began to turn on riot squad police and emergency services.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin -- himself a Cronulla local -- branded the day's events as "nothing short of disgusting, and disgraceful".
"What has been occurring on some fronts is that people of Middle Eastern backgrounds that have been seen in the Cronulla area -- a swarm of the crowd has approached these people with vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way," he said.