Wednesday, December 14, 2005
SYDNEY BEACH RIOT LATEST
Four Sydney churches were attacked within 24 hours.
Cronulla surfers have apologised for Sunday’s mayhem.
Sydney police were apparently warned not to antagonise Lebanese car smashers:
The Seven Network said it had obtained a police incident report instructing officers to stay away from one of the areas - believed to be Punchbowl Park in Sydney’s west - on Monday night ...
The network claimed the report showed some of those in the crowd were suspected of being Middle Eastern criminals who had been involved in malicious damage and civil disobedience offences throughout the Sutherland Shire.
The report is believed to have said “a direction was given to police about midnight not to enter the area and antagonise these persons”.
A goon has been jailed for his role in the aftermath to Sunday’s idiocy:
The man was arrested in Penrith, in Sydney’s west, about 2am (AEDT) on Monday, armed with a tree branch, police said.
Trees are evil. More on the arrest and sentencing here. Cronulla businesses are hurting:
Yesterday businesses in the troubled beachfront suburb said they had been forced to tell casual staff - mostly locals - they have no shifts. Some are considering closing a couple of days a week to save money.
Various folk are calling for curfews.
Boxer Anthony Mundine declares:
I think people shouldn’t be condemned because of their colour or creed, they should be judged on their deeds and their positive ways to their fellow man, their actions.
Very well. Let’s judge people by these actions:
Shots were fired at teachers’ cars, and parents and children were abused at a primary school Christmas carol service in Sydney, the Catholic Church has said.
And these actions:
Steve did not have time to unlock the hostel’s front door, cowering in an alcove while the youths pummelled him with at least a dozen punches.
He was also bashed with a steel bar and a lump of wood.
"I thought, ‘If I go to ground, that’s it’,” he said. “I just got hit a lot in the head and I remember thinking, ‘They’re not going to stop, I’m going to die’."
Some police—hopefully those not ordered to avoid antagonising gang dimwits—are better equipped than others:
Saw some Tactical operations cops out last night getting dinner before hitting the streets. I noticed they have been issued TASERS and asked one about them. He said they have got them but general police don’t.
And Mark Latham—remember him? no?—told a bookshop crowd that John Howard’s Australia is represented by the Cronulla riots. Possibly he then caught a taxi home and beat up its Lebanese driver.