The prime suspect in the abduction and murder of a five-year-old girl in Australia had to be airlifted out of a remote town for his own safety after a night of rioting. Jefferson Lewis, 47, was relocated when hundreds of locals clashed with police, demanding 'payback' for the killing of the indigenous child, referred to by her family as Kumanjayi Little Baby.
Kumanjayi disappeared from a community camp in Alice Springs on Saturday night, sparking a days-long search by foot and air that gripped much of the country. After her body was found around three miles from the camp, police named Lewis as her suspected killer and urged him to surrender. He later handed himself in to Indigenous community members, who beat him unconscious while meting out 'vigilante justice'.
Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole told reporters: 'He presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs last night. As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson.' When police and emergency services intervened, they too came under attack before Lewis was taken to hospital. A large crowd of around 400 people gathered outside the hospital and tried to force their way inside.
Footage from the ABC showed Indigenous people calling for 'payback', which refers to traditional, mostly physical, punishment in Aboriginal societies. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, who threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring a number of police officers and medical workers, and damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks. Commissioner Dole said: 'We called out all the resources we had available to quell that violent disturbance. And just let me say that the behaviour that we saw last night cannot be explained away, excused or accepted.'
One woman was being investigated for allegedly trying to set a police car alight. Police removed Lewis for his safety from the hospital to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, where he is being held in custody. He is expected to face charges in the coming days.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he understood 'people's anger and frustration' but urged the community to come together. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said Kumanjayi's death was the realisation of 'our worst nightmares', but it was no excuse for violence. She recalled how the community had united to search for the missing child: 'This week, we've 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.'
Robin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, called for calm: 'It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering. We need to be strong for each other, we must respect family and cultural practice.'
