Sydney's racist mob violence spreads
December 11, 2005


A day of race-fuelled violence at Cronulla spread through other
beachside suburbs in Sydney's south on Sunday night, with one man
stabbed and at least 10 arrested.

About 5,000 people descended on Cronulla beach as mobs yelling racist
chants chased down and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance.

Police and an ambulance crew were also assaulted as racial tensions
peaked.

Hopes that the violence had subsided by nightfall were dashed when, in
an apparent retaliatory strike, a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the
back outside a golf club at nearby Woolooware.

Two cars carrying a group of males, described by police as being of
Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, approached the man at about
10.25pm (AEDT) Sunday night.

Following a short conversation he was stabbed in the back, and was
taken to hospital in a serious condition.

At about the same time, up to 50 carloads of youths smashed more than
100 cars with baseball bats and other weapons in the beach suburb of
Maroubra.

Riot police were also called to the beachside suburb of
Brighton-le-Sands to control groups of brawling youths who had
reportedly thrown projectiles at police.

Ten people are believed to have been arrested.

Earlier on Sunday, when the trouble first flared at Cronulla, 12 people
were charged after mobs of youths chanting racist slogans and carrying
Australian flags attacked youths of Middle Eastern appearance.

Five police were injured when the mob turned on them.

Two paramedics were also injured as they tried to rescue a group of
people from the Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club, where they had fled to
escape the violence.

The mob broke the ambulance vehicle's windows and kicked its doors as
the paramedics tried to get the group out.

Police, who used capsicum spray and batons in their battle to subdue
the rioters, were also pelted with beer bottles.

Some groups in the crowd, estimated to have peaked at 5,000, also
stomped on and swarmed around police cars trying to move from one
violent flare-up to the next.

Officers were forced to shut down some roads, which were littered with
empty bottles as alcohol fuelled anger on the streets.

A group later made its way back to Cronulla for a retaliatory strike,
where men of Middle Eastern appearance are reported to have bashed a
local man unconscious.

A 23-year-old man was injured and more than 40 cars were smashed with
baseball bats during violent scenes in Maroubra, in Sydney's east,
overnight.

A group of about 60 men of Middle Eastern appearance and armed with
baseball bats smashed about 40 parked cars at about 9 pm (AEDT) Sunday
night.

The group then clashed with a local group, the Bra Boys, outside the
Maroubra Bay Hotel.

A 23-year-old Maroubra man was taken to Prince of Wales hospital after
he was stabbed with a sharp implement, believed to be a stick or nail,
in the hip.

The windscreen of a police vehicle was smashed when police attempted to
restore order.

Two police vehicles sustained minor panel damage, but no officers were
injured.

Police established a roadblock to prevent more people from entering the
suburb.

© 2005 AAP