Juan Albion
Chicken Sniffer 3rd Class
A bit of trouble at the seaside.
"Racial tensions spark violence in Sydney
Police fought running battles with demonstrators who attacked Middle Eastern-looking people on a beach in Sydney, Australia on Sunday in a clash that resulted in at least six arrests and several injuries.
About 5,000 people had gathered on Cronulla Beach to denounce what they said were racially motivated attacks on two lifeguards last week. Those in the crowd said a gang of Lebanese youths were responsible for the assaults.
Officers used batons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after some of the demonstrators, many chanting racial slurs, hurled beer bottles and stamped on police vehicles.
Ken Moroney, police commissioner of New South Wales, said the mob broke the windows of an ambulance and attacked two paradmedics. In another incident, people chased a woman on the beach because of her race.
"That woman was literally saved by the police officers and those officers deserve my highest commendation for the way they went about their task," he said. "The other equally offensive conduct, the absolutely total un-Australian conduct, was an attack on an ambulance."
Five people were injured in the confrontation. They included a young man who was hit on the forehead with a bottle when he tried to discourage the racial slurs.
As evening fell, the violence spread to other Sydney neighbourhoods. In Maroubra, a group of youths smashed the windshields of about 100 cars, police said.
A 23-year-old man was in hospital in serious condition after a fight in Woolooware. A radio report said he was stabbed in the back. Police said the man and his friends had been fighting with a "group of males of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance."
Dozens of police in riot gear also were involved in a confrontation with youths in the Brighton-le-Sands neighbourhood close to Sydney's Botany Bay, Australia's Sky News reported.
"Racial tensions spark violence in Sydney
Police fought running battles with demonstrators who attacked Middle Eastern-looking people on a beach in Sydney, Australia on Sunday in a clash that resulted in at least six arrests and several injuries.
About 5,000 people had gathered on Cronulla Beach to denounce what they said were racially motivated attacks on two lifeguards last week. Those in the crowd said a gang of Lebanese youths were responsible for the assaults.
Officers used batons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd after some of the demonstrators, many chanting racial slurs, hurled beer bottles and stamped on police vehicles.
Ken Moroney, police commissioner of New South Wales, said the mob broke the windows of an ambulance and attacked two paradmedics. In another incident, people chased a woman on the beach because of her race.
"That woman was literally saved by the police officers and those officers deserve my highest commendation for the way they went about their task," he said. "The other equally offensive conduct, the absolutely total un-Australian conduct, was an attack on an ambulance."
Five people were injured in the confrontation. They included a young man who was hit on the forehead with a bottle when he tried to discourage the racial slurs.
As evening fell, the violence spread to other Sydney neighbourhoods. In Maroubra, a group of youths smashed the windshields of about 100 cars, police said.
A 23-year-old man was in hospital in serious condition after a fight in Woolooware. A radio report said he was stabbed in the back. Police said the man and his friends had been fighting with a "group of males of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance."
Dozens of police in riot gear also were involved in a confrontation with youths in the Brighton-le-Sands neighbourhood close to Sydney's Botany Bay, Australia's Sky News reported.
?
